


The Words I Want to Hear

by LScore



Series: System, The Host... [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Abusive Stepmother, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Living Together, Romance, Romantic Fluff, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24120418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LScore/pseuds/LScore
Summary: Pretending to be a couple on a reality TV competition show for a week was bad enough, but how the heck is Sakura going to last an entire summer pretending to be a lovey-dovey couple with Sasuke? He's rude, insulting, and too damn blunt. Despite his mouth, though, she can't help but be just a little attracted? Is it just the proximity, or ... something more?
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji/Tenten (background), Nara Shikamaru/Temari (background)
Series: System, The Host... [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736473
Comments: 33
Kudos: 72





	1. I Blame Social Media!

**Author's Note:**

> I do not have any commercial rights to the Naruto franchise nor the novel The Most Pleasant Thing to Hear. I make no profit from this work.

_Run! Run, run, run! Don’t stop!_

_Dark foliage. Long shadows. No place to hide! Just keep running. And hope. And pray._

_Who do I pray to?_

_Long teeth. Sharp teeth. I can smell that breath. What did he eat? I -_

_Flying. I’m flying? Who’s holding me? Look up..._

_That face. I know that face. He looks… younger… But those dark eyes are the same…_

_I know those eyes. Look at me. I know those lips. They’re moving. What’s he saying? I think..._

_Ping!_

_Ping?_

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Waking up before noon because of her Instaglam notifications, especially after the week she’d had, was _not_ how Haruno Sakura wanted to start her day. Then again, if she was going to dream of his face, she was probably better off awake. No matter _how_ hot he was.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

What the _hell_ was going on with her phone? Why was it still going off?

Sakura moaned, finally prying her eyes open to find the bane of her sleep. Too lazy to turn over, she found herself staring at the same bedroom ceiling she’d spent all 21 years of her life waking up to. It was still the same. The same textured ceiling that was popular when she was born and her parents had bought the house, same cherry blossom glow-in-the-dark stickers she’d put up there with her mom when she was 8, and the same nipple light that her mother had promised her they’d switch out once she got better.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Sakura rubbed her eyes. _No point in dwelling on it now._ She sat up, saw her phone sitting on her vanity on the other side of the room, and then squinted at the angle of the sunlight pouring through her lace and faded pink velvet curtains. She moaned and buried her head back under her pillow. _Maybe if I ignore it, it’ll go away._ She hoped, anyways.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

 _No such luck._ Reluctantly, Sakura pushed back her thin blanket and rolled herself out of bed, fighting to put down first one leg, then the next, and finally standing up. Blearily, she stumbled to the annoying chirpy device, then squinted at the screen to see exactly what was causing all this trouble.

_Holy shit, it’s only 8 am! And it’s a Saturday! Shannaro!_

The notifications kept pouring in faster than she could dismiss them, so she finally opened up the picture-sharing app herself and stared at what she saw.

Instead of the hundred or so followers she’d had yesterday, mostly friends and acquaintances from school, she now had a hundred _thousand_ followers and climbing.

Instead of just a few likes from Hinata and a couple of other high school friends, her latest picture, an artsy shot of a 3d latte art kitty cappuccino she’d gotten two weeks ago, had thousands of likes.

And the comments... There were so many of them. And they were still coming.

> **@itgoeslikelalalala:** Omg Cute!  
>  **@lovelivefart:** So cute! <3 <3 <3  
>  **@castawayglam:** @livelovefart IKR? <3  
>  **@bootifullad:** So cute!! Did you go with your boyfriend?  
>  **@mochachocolatte:** @bootifullad It’s a good date place ;)  
>  **@aspiringcatlady:** Kitty!  
>  **@thirstylikethedessert:** I bet this would look better with tall dark and handsome in the background ;)  
>  **@gossipgurl:** The secrets out - you guys should post couple pics!  
>  **@skskskyasss:** @gossipgurl Yeah, don’t they live together?  
>  **@ihaveaknucklefetish:** Forget couple pics, I just want pics of his hand  
>  **@lolwutno:** @ihaveaknucklefetish Are you trying to measure his dick size?  
>  **@yasqueenyas:** @ihaveaknucklefetish @lolwutno I mean sis...

The more she read, the redder her face became, until she couldn’t bear it any more and just turned off her social media notifications. What in the world had happened while she had been asleep? She’d only been asleep for… 14 hours.

Just as she was about to put her phone down and crawl back into bed, though, her phone rang. Caller ID told her it was just the person to answer her burning questions.

“Hinata-chan, what the heck is going on?” Sakura burst out before her high school best friend even got a chance to say anything.

“I-I’m so, so sorry, Sakura-chan,” Hinata didn’t even bother with pleasantries, “The executive producer… well. I really am sorry.”

“Spit it out already,” Sakura growled. She was cranky, confused, embarrassed, and quite frankly, she really just wanted to go back to bed before her step-mother remembered she existed and forced her to be a lady again, whatever nonsense she meant this time.

"Th-the executive producer has been watching the footage, a-and he thinks the show is really good. Th-they put everything into motion before we even finished filming.” Hinata trailed off again.

“That’s a good thing, right?” Sakura perked up, “This is the break you and Naruto-san have been working towards? Congratulations!”

“Y-Yeah,” Hinata paused, “S-So they cut some trailers from the footage from the first interview, a-and posted it… a-and tagged you…”

“Oh no…,” Dread rose up in the pit of Sakura’s stomach. She remembered what a mess that first interview had been, “Oh no, no, no, no. Hinata-cha-”

“I’msorrybutpleasecontinuepretendingtogooutwithhim!”

“No way!” Sakura would’ve shouted if she hadn’t still remembered her stepmother was still in the house, “Absolutely not. Nu-uh, Hinata-chan!”

“P-Please, Sakura-chan,” Hinata begged.

“No! Not after that week!” Sakura protested, “We made a deal, Hinata-chan. I’d bail you out of your predicament after that couple canceled the day before filming. We would be background cannon fodder in this crazy reality TV show for couples of yours. Then you’d pay me $2000, I’d apply for med school, and I never, ever have to see Sasuke Uchiha again!”

“I-I know, I know,” Hinata was almost crying on the other side of the line, “b-but the executive producer w-won’t let me pay you unless y-you agree to pretend to be dating f-for promotional purposes u-until after the show finishes airing…”

Sakura groaned. She closed her eyes and flopped back on her bed in despair. She really needed that money, but she really didn’t want to face Sasuke Uchiha again.

“A-And…,” Sakura almost missed Hinata’s whisper in her ear.

“And!? No Ands, Hinata!” Sakura cried out.

“A-and you said you guys lived together in the introductory interview… s-so...”

Right at this minute, Sakura desperately wished she could go back to a week ago and throttle herself. She whined piteously, “Hinata-chan…”

“I-I know, I’m sorry, Sakura-chan,” Hinata sounded almost as piteous, “B-But the executive producer agreed to give you a bonus of $5000 if you agreed, after the show is done airing. Th-That’s enough for you to move out next year, right?”

“F-Five thousand dollars!?” Sakura sat bolt upright at the sum. That much money could change her life… She could do so much with it…

She could be _free._

The temptation was too great. Sakura gritted her teeth and said, “Fine. I’ll do it. But what about him?”

“Um…,” Hinata said.

“He refused, didn’t he?” Sakura smiled wryly.

“Y-Yea. He only agreed the first time because he lost a bet with N-Naruto-kun,” Hinata sighed, “H-He doesn’t care about the bonus.”

“I can’t exactly pretend to be a couple by myself, then,” Sakura sighed, relieved. Her heart was a little sore over the bonus, though.

“C-Can you try to convince him?” Hinata asked.

“I can try, but after that last day, you know how he feels about me,” Sakura said dourly.

“P-Please, Sakura-chan,” Hinata asked, “Just try?”

“Only if your producer agrees to pay me the original $2000 tomorrow, even if that woodblock turns me down,” Sakura decided. She had to get something out of this.

“O-Okay, I’ll ask him right now,” There was relief in Hinata’s voice, but Sakura thought it was premature. “Thank you, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura waited until she heard the end of the call tone before she muttered, “Don’t thank me yet, Hinata-chan.”

After the way that week of filming had ended, Sakura was absolutely, positively sure that there was no _way_ on this green earth Sasuke Uchiha would agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Sakura, would we have a narrative if he didn't? Hehehe. 
> 
> Hah! I managed it! It's still the weekend where I am, lol. As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subs, and love letters sent in little paper airplanes always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and see you soon!


	2. "Can I Move In With You?"

As she waited for Hinata to talk to her executive producer, Sakura realized she still had to figure out exactly how bad the damage was. That first interview was… Well. She realized she probably shouldn't make decisions when she was angry. But why did that bastard have to piss her off so much?

Sakura scroll through her mentions on her Instagram to find the trailer that she'd been tagged in. It was only 30 seconds, how bad could it be?

_"Next up, we have our newest couple: the block of ice and the blushing beauty that melted his heart! While they've only been together for a couple of months, their love affair has been hot and steamy. Let's hear more from the couple themselves, shall we?”_

Sakura groaned. She hated that nickname. She watched as the video cut to her and a handsome young man cuddled up to each other on the hot pink “interrogation” couch. _I hate that couch._

 _“I-It was love at first sight,"_ Sakura's face was bright red as she looked shyly at her so-called boyfriend. His arm was slung around her shoulders, drawing her into his chest, and she leaned on him in a coquettish manner.

_Never try to piss off a shameless ice block, Sakura. It's just a waste of your time._

_“Ah," the handsome man looked down at her._ His bangs hit his face from the camera, so a viewer could be forgiven for thinking he was just looking at his beloved woman, but Sakura remembered the sarcastic look on his face at that moment. _Why oh why did I let him goad me into this nonsense?_

 _“So when he asked me to move in with him a week after we started dating, of course I said yes!”_ in the video, Sakura reached up to pinch his cheek in a doting manner _, “Someone needs to take care of him. When I moved in, there were piles of laundry lying around, and he can't cook to save his life, my poor baby.”_

 _There._ If Sakura could go back in time and strangle her past self, she would stop her from saying that particular line. _All the trouble it caused afterward…_

 _“She's so considerate, isn't she?"_ Sasuke's voice was deadpanned as ever, but since he didn't look back at the camera, only she could see the murderous look in his eyes as he leaned closer. The camera caught a sweet moment between an overly-affectionate couple, but the mic didn't pick up what he said into her ear.

_“It’s on.”_

The trailer ended there. Sakura groaned, remembering the chill that had gone down her spine at that moment. She thought he'd been bad enough when they met…

_Just over a week ago…_

“Thank you so much, Haruno-san, you’re really saving our behinds. Can I call you Sakura-chan?” The sunny blond man reached out to give her a handshake as she arrived in the conference room.

“No problem, school’s over, and you’re paying me after all,” Sakura smiled, “It’s nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san. HInata’s told me about you.”

“Just call me Naruto. ” Naruto grinned at her, “We’ll be working together after all.”

“W-What about the other person?” Hinata asked, looking down at her watch.

Naruto waved his hand, “He probably got caught up in an experiment or something at his lab and lost track of time. Let me call him.” Taking his cellphone, he stepped out of the room.

“S-Sakura-chan, I really do owe you a huge favour for this,” Hinata said to her, “I-It was hard enough to find four couples that we liked, and th-then one of them getting into a car accident right before filming starts was really…”

“Don’t worry about it. What else are friends for?” Sakura smiled, “Besides, the money will make applying for med school so much easier. I won’t have to take on a part-time job, I can just focus on studying for the MCATs.”

“I-Is your stepmother still…” Hinata wanted to ask, but couldn’t find the right words. Sakura waved her off.

“Let’s not talk about it. Hey, why didn’t you ask your cousin and his girlfriend to fill the gap?” Sakura said, changing the topic.

“Th-they already signed up,” Hinata admitted, “I-I asked them when we were first looking for contestants, and the executive producer actually liked their submission.”

“No way, Neji-san? You don’t happen to have another cousin I don’t know about, do you?” Sakura raised an eyebrow.

“T-Tenten-chan is quite charming,” Hinata explained.

Sakura burst out laughing, “I notice you didn’t say that about Neji-san.”

“W-Well you’ve met my cousin…” Hinata trailed off as the door opened, and they both turned to look at the two men coming in.

 _Oh my…_ Sakura felt her heart speed up as she stared at the dark-haired man following Naruto into the room. _Pretending to be in a relationship with this guy for a week won’t be hard at all!_ He was _perfect_ , as if some errant god had breathed life into a classical sculptor’s masterpiece. His hair fell over his face in a sexy way that made Sakura want to just reach out and brush it back. Their eyes met, and Sakura could feel an instant connection, like a bolt of lightning, and from the way the corner of his eyes crinkled, she knew he felt it-

“Nope,” Tall, dark and handsome actually broke the intense eye contact and went right back out the door.

“Wh-Hey, wait Sasuke! Asshole!” Naruto hollered, startled by his sudden about-face, “You owe me! You lost the bet!”

“Don’t care,” The cold voice came back from the hallway, “Come up with another forfeit.”

Sakura was stunned. _What’s his problem?_ Her haze of physical attraction instantly turned into annoyance.

“I’m sorry. Let me…” Naruto said helplessly, looking at the man who was already putting his coat back on.

 _My money!_ “Why don’t I talk to him?” Sakura offered, getting up.

“Eh, Sakura-chan, he… he can be a bit emotionally constipated,” Naruto warned as she rushed past him out the door.

“Thanks Naruto-san!” She ran by him, trying to catch up with him. _If they have to hire someone else, they’ll end up cutting my compensation in half! I really need the money!_

"Wait, can we talk about-" Ignoring her words, he picked up his satchel and started walking away.

“Hey, you!” She yelled, following him into the hallway. He kept walking.

 _Rude much!_ She lost her temper, “The emotionally constipated asshole walking away from me! Stop! I need to talk to you!”

For some reason, that sentence made him stop. _Weirdo._ She caught up to him anyway.

"Look, do we know each other or something? I'm really sorry if I accidentally offended you in the past, but-" Sakura started, but he cut her off.

"No," Sasuke simply said and turned away again.

Sakura’s temper was still boiling, "Then what's your problem? Did I offend you in a past life or something? Am I too ugly? You were fine with it until you saw my face, so-"

"It's your arousal," He explained.

Sakura gaped at him, "My what?"

"Your pupils dilated, your face flushed, and I can see by the twitching of your carotid artery that your heartbeat increased. All classic signs of physical arousal," His tone was still icy cold, "It's a pain to pretend to be a couple with someone who is attracted to me, so no. I refuse to do this after all."

 _Why that-_ "I might think you're hot, but with your attitude, I'm not actually going to fall for you. In fact, this makes pretending to be a couple easier," She snapped. That made him turn back to look at her again, so she continued, "Look, I really need the money. Could you please reconsider?"

He stared at her face for a few moments. "You won't fall for me?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. He looked like he didn't believe her.

"Not in a million years," she vowed.

Drawing out his search for a bit, tall, dark and handsome seemed to find what he was looking for in her expression, so he nodded. “Fine. Promise me that you won’t fall for me, stalk me afterward and send me love letters, or try to contact me in any way after the show, and I’ll do this.”

 _What a narcissist!_ “Deal.”

_Present day (after the show)..._

Sakura wanted to slowly beat her head on a wall. She’d promised not to contact him, and yet here she was. It really wasn’t her fault, though!

 _Who said they moved in together just to try to embarrass him?_ Her subconscience reminded her. Sakura ignored that detail.

Just as she was about to get up and get on with her day, before her stepmother came to find her, Hinata finally texted her back.

 _The executive producer agreed to your conditions. Uchiha-san’s number is XXX XXX-XXXX. Thank you, Sakura-chan! Naruto-kun’s already told him about the situation, and he didn’t immediately refuse_.

 _Probably just waiting for me to ask him so he can make fun of me,_ Hinata’s last sentence didn’t give her much hope. After living with him for a week, she was very clear on his temperament.

Gathering her courage, she texted. _Hey Sasuke-kun. It’s Sakura. Is now a good time to call?_

_Please say no, please say no._

Her phone buzzed with a response fairly quickly. _Sure._

_Dammit._

Sakura pressed the call button and hesitantly lifted her phone to her ear. After a couple of rings, a familiar low voice answered the phone, “Hey.”

 _Urgh. Still with the sexy baritone_. “Hey Sasuke-kun. Did you get back OK?”

“Hn,”

Silence.

_Goddammit._

“Naruto-kun told you about what happened, right?”

“Hn.”

 _Like pulling teeth_.

“So… What do you think about it?”

“Mm.”

_This asshole…_

“You live alone, right? Look, I know I promised you I wouldn’t contact you after the show, but this situation is out of my control. If you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it. If you have an extra bedroom, you won’t even see me - It’s only for a couple months until the show is done airing, and I’ll be studying for my MCAT for most of the summer anyway. I can even just sleep on your couch.”

“...”

Sakura sighed, “Look, if it’s about rent, I can’t pay you monthly, but I can give you some money now and some after the show is done airing. I can help with the housework in the meantime?”

“...”

“At least think about it? And let me know soon?”

“....”

Sakura was about to hang up in sheer frustration when the door flew open with a bang, and Hurricane Evil Stepmother blew in. Startled, she dropped the phone without hanging up.

“HOW. DARE. YOU.”

_Shit. She must have seen the trailer._

“How DARE you, Sakura Haruno? How could you do this to me? How could you embarrass me like this?!” Standing in her doorway and looking every day of her fourty years without her makeup and her carefully chosen wardrobe, her hair still in curlers and wearing a dressing gown, her stepmother started throwing a full-blown tantrum like a spoiled child.

“I-” Sakura tried to head off the inevitable storm, but it was too late. _Here we go again._

“I can’t BELIEVE you. My business is RUINED! Absolutely ruined! I already had two clients call me about this fiasco!”

“Look Ichika-san-” Sakura tried again, but the woman just kept going, like a high pitched steamroller.

“You’re such a selfish brat!”

That snapped Sakura’s last thread of patience. _Selfish, am I? After all that I’ve put up from her?_ “If you hadn’t forced me to go on those blind dates to shore up your failing matchmaking business in the first place, you wouldn’t be in this position to begin with!”

That stopped her stepmother mid-tirade. Her stepmother clutched her chest as if Sakura had slapped her. “Why you-” Her eyes nearly bulged out of her carefully sculpted face, “That’s it. That’s the last bit of disrespect I’ll put up from you, you good-for-nothing ingrate. Get out!”

Sakura gaped at her, “What?!”

“I said get out! Move out! Scram! I’m not raising a good-for-nothing, ungrateful brat anymore!” Her stepmother’s face contorted into an ugly smile, “You’re an adult, you can find your own place to live. See how your little exams go now!”

“It’s my home! I’ve lived here since I was born!” Sakura protested, “My dad-”

“It’s my name on the house, and with your dad off to god-knows-where discovering himself, I have the final say. Get out today, or I’ll destroy every last one of your textbooks tomorrow! See how you study then,” With a vicious sneer, she slammed the door again on her way out.

Sakura slumped back on her bed. _What am I going to do now?_ She knew her stepmother would do exactly as she threatened too if she didn’t move out today. She’d done it before, right before Sakura’s high school senior exams. _But where am I going to go? Maybe Hinata…_

“Sakura,” Hearing her name coming from somewhere beside her, Sakura realized she’d never ended the call with Sasuke. She flushed, also realizing he’d probably heard the entire exchange between her and her stepmother. _Oh god… out of all people, why’d it have to be him?_

“I’m so sorry you had to hear that, Sasuke-kun, I-”

“Can you handle all the housework and do all the cooking with your studies?”

“Yes, but-”

“I don’t want to deal with any of the social media for this fake relationship. It’s too much of a pain. Can you handle it?”

“Yes, of course, but-”

“How long will it take you to pack your necessities?”

“W-what?”

“How long?”

“Not long, but-”

“Text me your address then. I’ll pick you up in two hours.” He hung up without waiting for her response.

Sakura stared at her phone, absolutely stupefied. _Did he just agree to her moving in with him?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe~ And so our adventure begins! The plot thickens - what exactly happened between "I don't want you to fall in love with me" and "It's on"? Tune in next week to (maybe) find out!
> 
> Sorry I'm a bit late with this chapter - I wish I had a better excuse, but I spent the weekend reading a 2400 chapter Mary-Sue light novel is probably not that, LOL. I hope you enjoyed this installment! As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and tiny gnomes with placards always make my day. Stay safe, stay healthy, and see you soon!


	3. Have You Eaten Breakfast Yet?

Sakura hadn’t actually believed Sasuke would actually come. When Sasuke arrived at her house, loaded her two suitcases into the back of his car, and stared at her until she got into the passenger seat, she didn’t believe it. She fully expected him to drop her off at a hotel if he was merciful or on the side of some dusty backroad if he wasn’t. Even as he led her up to an apartment and opened the door for her, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Hurry up,” Sasuke said curtly, indicating that she should go in. Sakura didn’t move. He sighed, “Fine.”

He went in and closed the door in her face.

Still, she waited like a stone statue in the hallway, still not daring to go in.

_I’m not falling for his pranks again._

“Dear? Are you looking for Uchiha-san?” A middle-aged woman with two garbage bags in her hand approached her cautiously.

“Uchiha-san?” Sakura started, “Sasuke Uchiha-san?”

“I’m not sure what the young man’s first name is but he’s this tall, black hair and eyes, very handsome, doesn’t like small talk. Are you looking for him?” the middle-aged woman gestured.

“You mean he actually lives here?” Sakura asked incredulously.

The middle-aged woman looked like she regretted approaching Sakura in the first place, making Sakura feel uncomfortable. _I look like such a stalker! How the hell am I going to explain this? Yes, your neighbour invited me to live with him, but I didn’t believe him so now I’m just standing in the hallway like a moron?_

“Yes, I live here,” The door swung back open, and Sasuke stared at her, “now hurry up and come in before my neighbours call the police on you.”

Glad for the escape, Sakura bobbed her head nervously at the woman who already had her cellphone in her hand and pulled her two suitcases into the apartment. Sasuke closed the door behind her, rudely ignoring his neighbour who’d been concerned about his crazy stalker.

“I don’t have slippers for you, but take off your shoes anyways. You can stay in my study. There’s a couch in there,” Sasuke gestured to the open door. He then gestured to the closed door, “Do not go into my room. The bathroom’s over there, the kitchen’s over there. If there’s nothing else, I still have work to do. Don’t bother me unless it’s important.”

He didn’t give her a chance to say if there was anything else, and he left her standing in the hallway and went directly back to his room, closing the door behind him.

 _Okay then_. Sakura took a deep breath before she started taking a good look around. His place was like him, clean but cold, and bare of any knickknacks, pictures, or tchotchkes. _Nothing that would make him seem human_. All of his furniture was white and generic - It’d looked like he’d bought everything in the showroom from the flatpack, build-it-yourself store, and there wasn’t even a pillow or throw to add even the slightest hint of softness. His apartment was nice and spacious, though. Sakura especially appreciated the large sliding glass doors leading to a large but empty balcony and the bright sunlight pouring in.

She poked her head into the little room where she’d be staying and was pleasantly surprised that it not only had a well-padded convertible couch with a pillow and a blanket neatly stacked on top, it also had a very large desk with many cubbies that had been emptied out and a small but serviceable closet and dresser unit _Well, that’s everything I need, anyways. This is better than moving into the group home where we filmed._

Sakura grinned despite herself as she remembered that day.

_The day before the reality show started…_

Sakura stared up at the large, stately castle, slightly stunned despite herself. _They actually managed to rent a castle for this. Shannaro! This is so cool!_

“You’re in the way,” A deadpan voice startled her out of her admiring trance. Sakura turned, embarrassed to be caught gaping like a country bumpkin, only to find her supposed boyfriend was the one who caught her.

"S-Sorry," she muttered, stepping aside to let him pass her, but he just continued to stare at her, "What?"

"I thought the whole point of this farce is that only a few people know the truth," Sasuke said.

"So?" Sakura didn't understand what he meant.

"So we begin this act now. Come on," He said.

 _Oh wow, I must be more jet-lagged than I thought I was._ Sakura gave herself a mental shake, then took the initiative and wrapped herself around Sasuke's free arm with a sweet smile. "Let's go," Sakura ordered.

Sasuke didn’t move. Sakura glared at him. _What was wrong with him now?_

“Must we touch?” Sasuke asked lowly.

Sakura glared at him and hissed, “I don’t have cooties. Come on, we’re blocking the doorway.”

“Could you guys stop blocking the doorway with your PDA, please and thanks?” A nasal, unpleasant voice came from behind her. Sakura jolted and loosen her hold on Sasuke’s arm to look behind them. An arrogant looking woman with purple hair and her hand propped on her hip glowered at them, while the man standing beside her was wearing a bandana across the bottom half of his face. He looked quite intimidating with his bloodshot eyes, like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

Sakura was about to apologize when Sasuke just ignored them and tugged Sakura through the door, to where Naruto and Hinata were waiting for them. Naruto gave them a big grin, then said “Hi Haruno-san, Uchiha-san. Welcome to the castle - Are you ready to become its King and Queen?”

Sakura saw the what-the-hell look Sasuke gave him, so she hastily exclaimed, “Yeah! Bring it on!”

Naruto grinned even wider at her, “That’s the attitude! You’ll be staying in the west wing on the ground floor. Please follow Hinata-chan - she’ll lead you to your wing. Remember that once you leave this lobby, everything you say or do will be recorded, except in your bedroom and your bathroom. This includes the sitting room of your wing!”

 _Shannaro!_ Sakura swore, but she didn’t let her smile falter as they followed Hinata out of there. As they left, she heard Naruto greet the next couple, Sakyu-san and Doku-san. They walked through the plush carpets and tall vaulted ceilings, past pillars of marble and gorgeous stain glass windows that Sakura would’ve stopped and stared at if she hadn’t been holding on to Sasuke’s arm. Hinata stopped at one set of double doors that were painted a soft pink, with “Sasuke and Sakura’s Love Nest <3” scrawled over them in a loopy cursive script.

 _It’s so hideous!_ Sakura wanted to burst out laughing. Judging by the way Sasuke stiffened, he didn’t like it any better than she did.

“Y-you’ll find your welcome materials on the nightstand of the bedroom, which includes the shooting schedule. Please feel free to join us for lunch in an hour and a half in the sunroom, which is just down the hall. S-Someone will be by in the afternoon to conduct introductory interviews,” Hinata explained as they stopped.

She pushed open the doors to reveal the… love nest, and Sakura gaped as they walked in. It was so _pink_. Cherry pink chintz upholstery, rose pink fluffy rug, soft peach wallpaper, rosewood furniture - even the faux fur thrown over the sofa was a pastel pink. It was simply an assault on her senses.

 _Twelve-year-old me would’ve loved this_ , Sakura thought, amused. She peeked up at Sasuke, who still looked as wooden as ever.

Hinata smiled at her reaction, “Y-your theme colour during the competition will be pink. Enjoy your love nest!” Before either of them could react, she quickly left and shut the door behind her.

Sakura dropped Sasuke’s arm to explore the suite, but Sasuke caught her hand, “Come here,” He started dragging her towards the bedroom, luggage in hand.

Sakura’s face blushed a bright red when she realized where they were heading. _He can’t be - wait what?!_ Without thinking everything through, she blurted out, “But it’s still day time! It’s too early for-”

He tugged her in and shut the door behind her. “There’s a camera in the sitting room, remember?” He eyed her.

 _Oh my god_. Sakura just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. They were standing in a bedroom that wasn’t nearly as fluorescent as their living room. It was a bit small, but it held a closet and dresser, two night tables, and a large double bed, as well as a separate door leading to what she assumed was the bathroom.

 _Wait a minute. There’s only one bed_.

“So… how’s this going to work?” Sakura tried to break the awkward silence between them as she frantically tried to come up with a solution to the bed problem.

“Since you’re the only one getting paid for this, you can do most of the work to look couple-y for the camera,” Sasuke said curtly, “You’ve already started on it.”

“Fine,” Sakura couldn’t disagree with him, but she’d forgotten how much she disliked him when he opened his mouth, “You can just be the taciturn block of ice boyfriend. That’s a popular trope, for some reason.”

“Fine,” Sasuke replied. He tossed her a pink folder, “Just tell me what I need to do. I’m going to take a nap now.”

 _He really isn’t going to bother trying._ Sakura scowled at him as she flipped through the folder. She raised her eyebrow at the packed schedule, though. He just made himself comfortable on the bed.

“You need to at least attempt to play along when it would be awkward if you didn’t,” Sakura warned him.

“Fine,” Sasuke didn’t even bother to open his eyes.

 _Asshole,_ Sakura scowled, “Have you memorized my fact sheet? I studied yours.” _What little there was..._ In order to make their act more believable, they’d given each other a kind of cheatsheet of what a normal couple would’ve learned about each other in the first three dates.

“I know what I need to know,” Sasuke replied. Sakura rolled her eyes at him. From his fact sheet, she’d learned his vital stats and identifiable markings. She’d also learned that he was four years older than her, had graduated university two years ago and was working as a scientist in a lab, and had an older brother and no parents. He also apparently liked tomatoes, onigiri and spicy food, and hated sweet food… and that was it. She felt a bit stupid for detailing everything that she liked to eat, read, and watch, information on her father and stepmother, and all her hopes and aspirations, including her dream to go to medical school after she finished her undergraduate degree next year and become a doctor, on her fact sheet.

“Fine,” Sakura said through gritted teeth, then turned to start putting her stuff away. “We can’t just stay in the bedroom all the time. Someone’s going to start making sex jokes.”

“Who cares?” Sasuke said indifferently.

“This is going to be on TV!” Sakura looked at him. He’d finally cracked open one eye.

“We’re just cannon fodder,” Sasuke said. Sakura huffed and went back to putting away her stuff when he spoke up again.

“I have one condition,” he said.

“What?” Sakura turned to look at him.

“I get the bed,” Sasuke said simply.

Sakura stared at him, “Did no one teach you to share?”

“No.”

“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” She protested, “I can’t exactly sleep in the living room with the cameras there. You’re supposed to cooperate!”

Sasuke turned on his side, wrapping the blankets around him. “That’s your problem. There’s a tub in the bathroom, isn’t there?”

As he turned his back to her in an attempt to get some sleep, Sakura just gaped at him. _Why that… I’m going to make him pay for this!_

_Present-day..._

_At least here, I have a soft bed_. She winced at the memory of that night in the cold ceramic tub. Always the efficient unpacker, Sakura quickly stowed her things away and reopened her cellphone, which had been overwhelmed with calls and notifications from things besides Instaglam back at her home. She hadn’t wanted to be distracted as she moved, just in case she needed battery to get her out of wherever Sasuke was planning on dropping her off. As she turned it on, though, she scowled at all the new notifications and tags she’d been getting. One message from Naruto caught her eye.

_Sakura-chan, hurry up and post something. People are starting to get suspicious, dattebayo!_

She signed. _Time to pay the piper._ She stuck her head out her door to see if Sasuke had come out yet. Since he hadn’t, she went ahead and raided his kitchen.

Sakura found the coffee and coffee maker just fine, but she noticed that Sasuke didn’t have any milk or sugar. In fact, he had barely anything in his fridge. Moreover, his kitchen was obviously designed for tall people, because his cups were on the tallest shelf.

“Damn it,” Sakura muttered under her breath, struggling to reach the cups on her tippy toes. She was just about to hike one leg onto the counter and clamber on it to get to the cups, like she had when she was a child, when an arm reached over her head.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” a low voice was right by her ear, sending shivers down her spine. She nearly jumped back in surprise, but she caught herself at the last minute, not wanting to crash into his chest. _He moves like a cat_. She could feel the heat from his body right behind her, and it made all the hairs on her body stand up.

 _Shannaro! He’s so close._ She couldn’t help notice that she was trapped between him and the counter, his arms caging her in, as he handed her a cup. She could feel the vibrations of his low voice as he asked, “What are you doing, anyways? There’s a cup on the dishrack already if you just wanted a coffee.”

“I-I need to take a picture for social media,” Sakura explained, a little breathlessly, looking up into those gorgeous dark eyes. _Urgh, he’s so hot up close. Too bad about his personality._ “Something with hands and coffee on your dining room table. I was going to set it up first and then call you out.”

“Ah,” Sasuke didn’t say anything else, just moved back to give her space to make the coffees. She knew he preferred black, but she considered coffee a vehicle for milk and sugar. She frowned when she didn’t even find some granulated white sugar in his pantry.

“It’s Saturday. I need to go grocery shopping,” Sasuke volunteered. Sakura didn’t see the look in his eyes as he watched her putter around his kitchen.

“I’ll go with you after we take this picture. If I’m going to be cooking, I need some ingredients, anyways,” Sakura offered. She frowned when she considered her props, though. “Two black coffees in identical mugs aren’t going to make a very good picture... “

Sasuke didn’t say anything, so she just interpreted it as him agreeing. She nearly jumped out of her skin, though, when she turned around and found him right beside her again. _Personal space! Just cause he’s hot, doesn’t mean he can invade my space!_ “Wh-what are you doing?”

Sasuke just looked at her and said, “Conducting an experiment.”

Sakura stared at him. For a hot minute, she thought he was playing a practical joke on her again, but she failed to see even the slightest hint of watching a good show in his gaze. The intensity in his eyes unnerved her.

Sakura broke eye contact, mostly to banish that unsettling feeling and started looking around his kitchen for another prop, anything, when she caught sight of their shadows, side by side, spilling over the countertop with the two empty mugs and coffee machine. _This could work...If I just…_

“Sasuke-kun,” She picked up her phone and pointed it towards the two empty mugs and two shadows. Sasuke grunted as she pushed him back a step, but she then asked, “Can you lean down? No, lower. I need you to get a bit closer to me. Closer... Closer… Oh, come on!”

Frustrated, she grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged. She had to frame the shot so that it looked like an intimate moment, but also distinctly looked like two people and not just a shadowy blob. “Can you look straight at me? Just in profile. Don’t look at the coffee cup!” Sakura directed, “Yes! Perfect! Can you put your arm on my hip? Yes, like that. Now don’t move...”

Sakura watched their shadows in the viewscreen out of the corner of her eye as she slowly tilted her own face up and scooted closer and closer to Sasuke to give the impression of a chance morning kiss between a pair of lovers. She didn’t notice just how close they were until she felt his breath on her sensitive ear.

She froze. _Oh my god oh my god oh my god._ Her ear felt like it was on fire.

“Sakura.” His voice was low and intimate.

_Why does he have to have such a sexy voice?_

“Y-Yes?”

“How long do I have to hold this?”

 _Kill me now._ Snapping out of her trance, she quickly took a few shots on her phone, then took a big step away from him. Under the guise of checking the pictures, she avoided his eyes. Her hand unconsciously crept up to rub at her sensitive ear, though. She didn’t see Sasuke’s small smirk when he caught her movement.

Just as she finished playing with filters and posted it with the caption “what kind of coffee should I make this morning?”, though, her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she’d left her family home in a rush, without eating breakfast.

Sasuke frowned at her, “Do you like wontons?”

“Huh?” Sakura looked puzzled.

“It’s a simple question. Do you like wontons?” Sasuke asked.

“Sure, they’re fine, but-”

“You can treat me to wontons, then. We need to get groceries, anyways.”

“Hey! Why am I buying the wontons?”

“Who’s living here rent-free, again? It’s either breakfast or your turn to buy groceries this week,” His blunt reminder made Sakura pause and consider, a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t thought to invite him out to a meal herself, to say thank you.

“I can get the groceries too,” She offered sheepishly.

“We’ll both be eating. We can split the bill,” Sasuke refused her offer, “Otherwise, you’ll hog the jerky again.”

“Hey! I only did that once!” Sakura protested, thinking back to one very memorable lunch during shooting, “And it was my jerky!”

“My point,” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

Sakura huffed exasperated, then gave up, “Give me five minutes to change and grab my purse,” She demanded and went back to her room in a bad temper.

As the door to his study closed behind her, Sasuke made a mental note to himself: _Experiment was a partial success. She still exhibits arousal symptoms in close proximity, but close proximity interferes with my objectivity. Time to try something else._

_Just around the block..._

The wonton place was the quintessential definition of a hole in the wall, nestled on a side street of the only downtown neighbourhood to remain ungentrified. It didn’t even have indoor seating, but on a glorious late spring day like today, that was a bonus. Sasuke and Sakura each grabbed a plastic lawn chair around a folding table that already had various condiments and spices haphazardly piled in the middle.

There was no menu - they could just order a large bowl or a small bowl. Having missed breakfast, Sakura ordered the large bowl then sat back to enjoy the show. The old couple made wontons like a well-oiled machine. As soon as the wife rolled out a pinch of dough with quick strokes of a rolling pin, the husband grabbed the wrapper, scrunched in some filling, and tossed it into the bubbling pot in one flying gesture, just as she finished the next wrapper. Roll, grab, scrunch, toss, roll, grab, scrunch, toss - on and on until twenty or so wontons were in the pot, and then, without a pause, they shifted to the next boiling pot and repeated the dance.

She was so mesmerized watching the couple make wontons that she didn't notice Sasuke watching her, a small smile on his face.

When the couple leaned back after the last wonton went into the pot, and the wife said something teasing to her husband, Sakura finally looked back at Sasuke. She didn’t want to spy on what felt like an intimate moment between the couple, but looking at Sasuke made her feel hot and prickly and self-conscious for some reason.

She looked down at her phone and noticed that her phone was blowing up with silent notifications. Out of curiosity, she started reading some of the reactions to her Instaglam post.

> **@gossipgurl:** Oh la laa~  
>  **@Ineedcoffeefirst:** Tall, dark, and strong right in the morning  
>  **@Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee:** OMG SASUKE KISS MEEE  
>  **@yasqueenyas:** @Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I can’t believe you’re saying that on his girlfriend’s Instaglam.  
>  **@mofumofumochi:** You guys are just so cute I just want to squeeze your cheeks  
>  **@elephantears:** I’m a fan of this ship~ SasuSaku 5evaa  
>  **@SasuSakushipper:** SasuSaku SasuSaku SasuSaku

_I can’t believe we even have a ship name_. Sakura wanted to facepalm.

“Interesting?”

Sakura jumped a little, only to find Sasuke smirking at her from across the table, over two steaming hot bowls of wontons. She blushed. She’d been too engrossed in Social Media to notice their lunch arrive, whereas Sasuke had already added his condiments.

The aroma of the wonton soup nearly made her weep when it hit her nose. She looked down at the little bundles of meaty goodness wrapped in a skin so thin she could see the bits of pickled veggies mixed in with the filling. They floated in a clear consomme dotted with bright green onion slices, and the steam rising off the top crowned this culinary masterpiece. Starving, Sakura picked up her porcelain spoon, ready to dig in.

“Oh my god, Haruno-chan, is that you?” Just as she was about to enjoy her first bite, someone interrupted her. Sakura wasn’t sure if she wanted to weep or throttle the person who dared to interrupt her. She looked up, displeased, and was even more unhappy when she realized who it was.

“Tsugi-chan,” Sakura put on an awkward smile, “I haven’t seen you since high school.” _And I liked it that way._

“It is you! It’s been so long!” Kin Tsugi, her least favourite frenemy from high school, gave her that same fake smile that Sakura had loathed so much three years ago. They’d become friends in freshman year, until Sakura had found out that Kin had a habit of spreading rumours about her behind her back, to make her look bad in front of the boys. _High school sucked._

“It has been a while,” Sakura smiled. Normally, she’d ask the other person how they were, but judging by the fact that Kin had a new designer wardrobe, a new glamorous haircut, and a new nose, she was probably doing just fine.

Kin’s smile froze when Sakura didn’t bother trying to make small talk. Sakura could see how she kept sneaking peeks at Sasuke, though, so she wasn’t the least bit surprised when Kin persisted in trying to talk to her. “What are you doing around here? Are you working?”

“I’m studying for my MCATs,” Sakura tried to keep her answers polite but short. _Hopefully, she’ll get the hint._

“Oh nice! Why aren’t you doing that at your parents’ house, though? Or did your dad get divorced again?” Kin asked an overly personal question instead.

 _No such luck. And it’s none of her damn business!_ Since reaching across the table and strangling the other woman was not socially acceptable, she just said, “No, I’m downtown for the summer.”

“Downtown’s pretty awesome in the summer,” Kin just kept going, “I ended up with a summer internship at a digital media company. They’re letting me host my own bits!”

 _I really could not care less._ “Congratulations.”

“Yeah, I’m going to be hosting foodie bits, showing off various restaurants downtown. It’ll be fun and trendy! But like… more upscale places than this,” She eyed the shabby decor with a smirk.

“Sounds great!” Sakura wanted to roll her eyes.

“Yeah, maybe you and your… friend could join me next time. Check out cooler places than this,” Kin finally gave up on Sakura being polite and directly tried to appeal to Sasuke.

“Sakura,” Sasuke finally opened his mouth. _This is all his fault anyways. If he wasn’t here, Kin would’ve already left after trying to jab at me a couple of times,_ Sakura thought resentfully.

She put on her most simpering smile and beamed at him, “Hmm?”

Kin also turned to him like she was a magnet and he was the true north. Her smile was fawning, and she even started preening herself, anticipating some kind of introduction.

“Here,” totally ignoring Kin, Sasuke reached over and put his porcelain spoon with a wonton in it, into her bowl. “You should eat, the food’s going to get cold.”

If they hadn’t had an audience, Sakura would have gaped at Sasuke. _What was he doing, playing the doting boyfriend feeding his girl?_ Even if they were pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend, feeding her was an old-fashioned, lovey-dovey move straight out of a TV Drama series. It almost made her heart skip a beat.

Then she saw the look in his eyes. He was very clearly saying _get rid of her already._ Then Sakura understood. She wanted to roll her eyes at him. _Why do I have to deal with the consequences of your hotness? Urgh._

Instead, she turned back to Kin, who had turned green with envy at the intimacy between the two of them and put on her best fake smile, “Normal and untrendy places like this suit me and my boyfriend just fine. Thanks for the offer, though, Tsugi-chan. See you around!” Sakura smiled brightly, then ducked her head to focus on her lunch, pointedly ignoring the other girl. _I guess I really do need to get used to calling Sasuke-kun my boyfriend._

Having been summarily dismissed, Kin opened and closed her mouth like a fish on dry land. Sakura and Sasuke both studiously ignored her as Sakura started looking through the condiment bottles. With a huff, she gave up and finally left them to their meal.

Sakura snuck a peek to confirm she was gone, then sighed in relief. _Luckily my bowl’s still hot, otherwise, I’d’ve really been mad at her._ “Sasuke-kun, what do you recommend?”

He looked at her, puzzled. She pointed to the several different condiment bottles between then. He shrugged, “For you, just a bit of soy sauce.”

“Okay,” She said, reaching for the bottle.

“Wait,” He said. She froze, confused.

He reached over the table and took back the spoon with the wonton he’d so considerately given her before, like the charming boyfriend he wasn’t.

She scowled at him. _I knew it was too good to be true!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *snicker* I do like watching Sasuke attempt to approach Sakura, he's just so awkward about it. That's the lovely part about being the narrator.
> 
> So yes, this was supposed to be my non-beta-ed, I can get chapters out quickly fic..... yeah sorry about that guys. Something about this chapter was just harder to write than usual. I think it's the social media usernames. I hate coming up with those, lol. If you would like to make my life easier, please feel free to leave me a comment or review indicating whether or not you'd like to make a digital cameo (ogling, cheering, or trolling) in this fic (*cough* shamelessly steal your username). I also managed to make myself very hungry while I was writing this fic, lol. Wontons are delicious and I'm making some this weekend. For the uninitiated, that is NOT how you actually make wontons, there's an art to the folding that's super meticulous. I'm going off a childhood memory of a street hawker in my hometown from when I was twelve, so god knows how accurate that is. Also, while I was writing this chapter I had to take an art break to break my own heart over how rusty my arting skills are, because I would've loved to be able to draw my own fanart of all of Sakura's Instaglam pics. Oh well, maybe I'll come back to the idea when I'm done. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subs, and picture of gnomes in exotic locations with little signboards always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and see you soon!


	4. He's Definitely My Boyfriend

Sakura was still annoyed about the wonton she didn’t get to eat a few days later. Being alone, in Sasuke’s empty apartment, while he was at work in the middle of the afternoon gave her plenty of time to brood about it. Admittedly, the wonton wasn’t _hers,_ and it had just been to get rid of Kin, but still!

Thinking about the infamous wonton incident yet again, she also remembered that she’d taken pictures of their food for future social media fodder. It had been a few days since she’d posted anything, and she did have to keep up her end of the bargain as the social media manager of this fake relationship. So, taking a short break from her MCAT studying, she opened the app and flipped through some of the shots she’d taken.

 _You know, maybe I should thank Kin for interrupting and making me take pictures after we started eating. Otherwise, I would have just taken a picture of two identical bowls_. Sakura mused, stopping at one pic of their two meals. It was a striking study in contrasts, two circles of soup diametrically across from each other on the round plastic table like yin and yang, one plain and one spicy, one untouched and one half-eaten wonton in a pair of hands ready to take another bite. The play of midday sunlight through the leaves gave the whole scene a painterly air.

She remembered taking this one. She’d stood on top of her chair, looming over the table to get that perfectly centred shot, and Sasuke and the couple manning the stall had all looked at her like she was crazy. Sasuke had even stopped eating to watch her do her thing, although he hadn’t put down his chopsticks, much to her annoyance. 

Looking at it now, though, Sakura had to admit that Sasuke had beautiful hands. They were elegant without being delicate, strong without being rough, large without being intimidating. One curved around the side of the plain stoneware bowl, tapered fingers gently holding a pair of chopsticks, while the other held a simple porcelain spoon, ready to scoop into the chilli-red broth.

 _Wait. Chilli oil. That’s why my bowl was spicy! I knew I wasn’t crazy!_ Looking at the picture, Sakura realized why she hadn’t enjoyed that meal as much as the aroma had suggested she would. She didn’t like spicy food, and Sasuke had gotten some into her soup when he’d transferred the wonton into her bowl. _Is that why he took it back? No way…_

Sakura decided she was thinking too much into it, and she had to get back to studying. She was just about to post the pic when her phone rang with an incoming call that she accidentally answered. _Shannaro!_

“Sakura?” A muffled, indistinct voice came from her speaker. 

_Well, if they know my name, they’re probably not a spammer._ Sakura lifted her cell to her ear to answer, “Hello?”

“Hey Sakura, it’s Kin,” The saccharine voice came over crystal clear. 

_Dammit, totally a spammer. Short, pointless, annoying messages_. “Hi, Kin. How’d you get my number?” Sakura responded, trying to stay polite.

“Well, well, well, you obviously haven’t found your manners since high school,” Kin sneered, “Social media, duh. It’s linked to your FaceLook.”

 _One more reason to delete that account,_ Sakura swore to herself, but answered out loud, “Why are you calling me?”

“Oh I’m just curious about how you managed to wrangle such a hottie to pretend to be your boyfriend,” Kin said, not the least bit perturbed by Sakura’s rudeness.

 _Shannaro!_ “Pretend? We’re not pretending,” Sakura said calmly.

“Oh please, you don’t even have him in your relationship status on FaceLook.”

 _Really need to delete that profile…_ “Just because I don’t need to show him off on the internet doesn’t mean we aren’t dating, you know.”

“Uh-huh. So why do his colleagues not know who you are?”

 _Wait, what?_ “You know his colleagues?”

“Oh please, Sakura, do you even know who you’re dating? He was freaking famous at K Uni - you know, the super famous school - for being a super genius? He’s on all kinds of top thirty under thirty lists, and the lab he works at now is doing cutting edge, super-secret stuff with the best of the best.”

_Well, I knew all of that, get to the damn point already._

“So anyway, one of my friends from Uni is dating one of his coworkers, and he said that his boyfriend said that Uchiha Sasuke is toooooootally single.”

_Finally._

“We’ve just started to make things public. The whole thing is pretty new.” _And why am I explaining myself to you?_

“Oh, so you’re going to be at their party later this week?” Kin asked snidely, “Great! I’ll see you there if you’re not lying your head off. Kimimaro invited me too!”

 _Patience, Sakura_. “I’ll see you there, then,” Sakura replied, but Kin had already hung up on her.

“Shannaro!” Sakura cursed into the empty living room, rubbing her temples. _I’m not in high school anymore, why do I still have to deal with her shit?_ She wanted nothing more than to ignore Kin’s shenanigans, but then she remembered that the other girl was in social media journalism and that they were supposed to be pretending to date for social media...

 _Dammit._ Resigned, Sakura picked up her phone to send Sasuke a text message. _Hi Sasuke-kun, do you have a company party this week? Can I come?_

Throwing her phone aside, Sakura finally got back to her studying. She wasn’t expecting a response from Sasuke for a while, so she was more than a little surprised when, during her next study break, she saw three texts from him in succession.

_Sure_

_How did you hear about it?_

_You’re paying for yourself, though_

Sakura scowled at the last text. _He’s so stingy_. She texted him back. _Social media journalist mentioned she was going to be there. And fine, I’ll pay for myself. What should I wear?_

This time his response was nearly instantaneous. _Clothes_.

That made Sakura laugh, _No, I mean, dress code? Is this a more formal party or are you guys just coming in from the office?_

_It’s Karaoke and dinner. I don’t know what that means for the dress code though. We’re going after work._

Sakura raised an eyebrow at his response before she texted him back. _Karaoke? You’re going willingly._

_I’m not going to sing._

She remembered that other Karaoke party they’d had during filming and snickered to herself. _Why are you going then? This one is just for work, no?_

_My boss will dock my bonus if I don’t go._

_Ah, I see._ After her last text, Sakura got up to start looking through her wardrobe, trying to find a suitably dressy outfit so that she wouldn’t embarrass herself at an office party. She’d packed in a bit of a hurry, though, and as a university student, she didn’t have that much business casual to begin with. After much deliberation and piling half her wardrobe up on her bed, she finally narrowed it down to two options: a white sundress, or a denim shirt dress. 

“Hmmm…,” She thought aloud, looking between her two options with considerable indecision. Good thing she was alone in the house so she could talk to herself and not look insane, “I know Sasuke-kun’s favourite colour is navy blue, but the white sundress is a bit dressier, and I like the way my chest looks in it better… what should I do?”

After another twenty minutes of deliberation, she decided she was wasting her time and should just offload the decision to someone else. She took a couple of cute pictures in each outfit, preparing to send them off to Hinata to ask her opinion when she paused. _Wait. This is Sasuke-kun’s party. I should ask him, instead. Besides, isn’t a boyfriend helping a girlfriend choose her outfit a very normal thing?_

Her mind made up, she sent him the pictures. _What do you think?_

He texted back fairly quickly, but his answer was no help. _You’re wearing a dress._

Sakura facepalmed. _Yes, thank you, I thought I was wearing a fish. Which one should I wear to the party?_

_I don’t know. Isn’t this your job?_

Annoyed, and still wearing that white dress with the great cleavage, Sakura took a silly selfie while she pulled her lower eyelid down and stuck her tongue out at the camera. She sent it to Sasuke, and after banishing all thoughts of her fake boyfriend and his party, she finally went back to what she should’ve been doing all along - studying.

_Meanwhile…_

Sasuke smirked at the last text from Sakura and saved it to his phone. After a small pause, he saved it as the background on his lock screen and was just about to go back to work, when one of his colleagues caught sight of it over his shoulder.

“Woah, Uchiha, who’s that hottie?” Suigetsu exclaimed, leering at his phone.

Sasuke frowned and tried to put his phone in his pocket. He replied repressively, “My girlfriend.”

“WHAT!?” Suigetsu shouted. He made a grab for it, “You have a GIRLFRIEND?!”

“What!?” Karen shrieked, her voice ear-piercingly shrill.

“Woah, congrats, man,” Jugo grinned.

“No way you got a girlfriend before I did!” Suigetsu complained, “And no way she’s such a hottie! I bet you took her picture off the internet. Look at those boobs!”

Normally, Sasuke would have just ignored Suigetsu, but something about the way Suigetsu had said that rubbed him the wrong way, “You’ll meet her at Karaoke on Friday. Get back to work”

He ignored the other man’s pestering by slamming his office door in his face, but once he was alone, he pulled out his phone and sent Sakura another text. _There’s going to be wine at the party. Don’t wear the white one._

_On Friday…_

Wearing the denim dress, Sakura arrived at the classy karaoke joint near the city’s discovery district with a little cash and very sweaty palms. Nervous, she checked her phone for the hundredth time.

_Sasuke-kun, I’m here. Where do I go?_

_Private room. Number 27 in the back. Ask for TAKA._

Sakura took a deep breath and approached the guy at the bar, who assessed her as she approached, “Looking for a private room, or is your party already here?” The bartender asked.

“Th-they’re already here. I’m looking for Taka?” Sakura replied uncertainly.

“Taka?” The bartender raised an eyebrow, “You’re not a new recruit, otherwise you’d’ve come with the guys from the lab. Who’re you a friend of? Karin?”

“No, I’m a f-friend of Sasuke Uchiha’s,” Sakura replied, stumbling over her words a bit. _I know we’ve been living together for nearly a week, but still! It feels weird to say I’m his girlfriend outside of the set._

“Sasuke?! Tall, dark and silent?” The bartender exclaimed, “No way! That guy?”

“Yes?” Sakura felt a bit bewildered.

The bartender looked at her suspiciously, but then shot her a super bright smile, “Give me one second, I’ll just call up to the room and let them know you’re coming.”

“Okay,” Sakura didn’t argue, but she frowned to herself. _Didn’t Sasuke say I could just go through?_

The bartender walked a couple of feet away to pick up a wall phone. Sakura wondered why he was talking with a hand over his mouth, but when she caught his eye, the bartender shot her a bright smile so wide it looked fake. Before Sakura thought too much about it, though, her cellphone buzzed with a new text from Sasuke.

_Are you in the lobby of the Karaoke place?_

_Yeah. The bartender won’t let me through, though,_ Sakura texted him back.

 _Wait_.

That laconic text message made Sakura want to roll her eyes. _I can’t do much else here besides leave, and I’ve already paid the bus fare_. Still, she did as she was told, taking a good look around the sleek chrome, glass, and black pleather interior. _At least it’s pretty clean_. The singing happened in private rooms, while the lobby only contained a bar and a waiting area. The soundproofing was a bit poor though because she could vaguely hear someone belting an offkey love ballad from somewhere.

“Sakura,” his low voice startled her out of her thoughts. Sakura jerked her head up to see a familiar figure approach, the same cold look she was so used to seeing on his face.

_Am I hallucinating, or is he annoyed, too? Nah, this is Sasuke we’re talking about._

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura called out especially sweetly to him. _Girlfriend mode on_.

Sasuke stopped when she called out to him, looking a bit… startled? She gritted her teeth through her smile and tried to send him a telepathic message. _Oh come on, play along._

Sakura didn’t know if telepathy actually worked, or his android brain finally managed to unfreeze itself, but in the next minute, he nodded and responded, “Sakura. You’re late.”

“Sorry, the busses from your place to here were kind of weird,” She said, going to his side and linking her arm through his.

“I’ll drive you home then,” Sasuke declared and started leading her into the establishment.

“Wait, don’t I have to pay for-,” Sakura turned to look at the guy at the counter who’d obviously thought she was some kind of creepy stalker. Since he’d obviously overheard their conversation, the look now on his face was priceless. _Take that!_

Sasuke actually held her elbow and kept walking, “Don’t worry about it. She’ll send the bill to the room later.”

 _Wait, she’s a girl?_ Sakura caught one last glance of the bartender’s distorted face. She now recognized the emotion as jealousy. _Oops. Although I guess she could have been a gay guy as well. But that explains why she was so protective of him. I guess I better get used to this..._

“Yo, Sasuke, what’s up with Tayuya? Why’s the food taking so long?” A loud, brash voice blasted through the sound system right as Sasuke opened the door, startling them both. Sasuke’s body shielded her from the sound blast, but it also hid her from the rest of the room. She peeked over his shoulder to see what she’d be facing.

He’d led her to one of the VIP suites in the back, which looked like it should’ve been big enough for 10 or 12 people. However, there were only four people on the couches. The loudmouth with white hair and pointy teeth was standing near the front of the room with a microphone. A girl with flaming red hair sat on one couch on the right, the karaoke catalogue forgotten in her hand, and a couple whispering to each other were seated across from the red-haired girl. Both of them looked up from where they were playing with their interlocked hands as Sasuke guided Sakura to the couch nearest to the door.

 _At least Kin isn’t here yet,_ she thought, glancing at the couple as she followed Sasuke to sit at the couch at the back of the room. _I wonder which one is her friend, the muscular guy with the orange hair or the elegant guy with the dramatic purple makeup.._.

There was an awkward moment while they all stared at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. They were all just staring at her, various levels of surprise on their faces.

_Shannaro! This is so awkward… C’mon Sasuke, just open your mouth and introduce me already._

It wasn’t Sasuke who broke the ice, though.

“Holy shit, you’re a real person! He didn’t just find a picture on the internet!” The loudmouth blurted out.

 _Picture?_ Sakura wondered, but before she could think too deeply into it, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled from the murderous intent beside her. “Shut up, Suigetsu,” Sasuke ordered.

“Eep!” Instinctively, Suigetsu ducked beside the redhaired girl, who rolled her eyes at him.

“Just ignore him, he’s a bit of a clown,” The muscular guy with orange hair tried to smooth things over, “I’m Jugo. Nice to meet you!”

“Kimimaro,” Dramatic purple makeup sitting beside Jugo gave her a tiny smile

“I’m Karin,” The red-haired girl smiled a bit stiffly at her. They all seemed to wait a beat while they all looked at the guy Sasuke called Suigetsu. Karin finally dug her elbow into his ribs.

“Ow! What’d you do that for?” He complained. Karen scowled at him and then gestured at Sakura. “Oh come on, Sasuke already introduced me! She’s not stupid, she can figure out my name.”

“Don’t mind him, we’re pretty sure he was raised by wolves,” Kimimaro said while examining his fingernails.

Sakura laughed awkwardly, then went ahead and introduced herself since Sasuke was still glaring at Suigetsu, “I’m Sakura, nice to meet you all. I’ve heard so much about you.” _All one line from that factsheet._

“Oh really?” Karin raised an eyebrow, “because we haven’t heard anything about you.”

“Haha,” Sakura laughed awkwardly, “Well, that’s what I’m here for, to get to know my boyfriend’s colleagues.”

That seemed to be a signal. All four other people stopped pretending to be focused on something else and took her words as permission to focus on them. Sakura gulped. That intense attention on her and Sasuke as they sat on a couch gave her an odd sense of deja vu…

_During their first interview…_

_“You guys ready?”_ The host, a bubbly blond in a ponytail who’d introduced herself as Yamanaka Ino when she popped into their so-called lovenest, asked as she settled in across from them. _“You’ve still got a couple of minutes while Sai adjusts the colour settings. Your room is so pink. I love it!”_

Sakura smiled tightly, _“We’re a bit nervous.”_ She sat stiffly next to Sasuke on the hideous pink couch, trying to get comfortable.

 _“She’s a bit nervous,”_ Sasuke finally opened his mouth. Both Sakura and the host gave him a startled look.

Taking advantage of a moment when Ino turned to answer a question the cameraman asked her, Sasuke casually put his arm behind her on the couch and leaned in to whisper something into her ear, _“I am fairly certain that couples in a committed relationship do not look so stiff while in public. Find your spine and do better - you’re the one being paid.”_

Sakura wanted to glare at him, but she put on a saccharine smile and made herself comfortable under his arm, _“Don’t complain then,”_ she whispered back. _This guy made her sleep in the bathtub and was giving her crap about her giving him a wide berth? Shannaro!_

Ino turned back to them and gave them a huge smile, and the look in her eyes reminded Sakura of a predator spotting prey, _“Looks like you guys got comfortable. Ready? Let’s get started!”_

_Back in the Karaoke room..._

“So Sakura-chan,” Jugo opened, “How did you meet Sasuke?”

_Sakura took a deep breath, remembering their prepared story and answered the first question Ino asked, “We met through mutual friends, at a small get-together. I was chatting with a friend, and when he turned the corner, our eyes met, and… I-It was love at first sight," Sakura's face was bright red as she looked shyly at her so-called boyfriend. I’m so glad I can blush on command._

“Love at first sight, eh?” Karin smiled, “So who pursued who?”

“I bet it was Sasuke,” Suigetsu grinned. Karin gave him a look. “What?” He asked her.

“Never mind,” Karin rolled her eyes at him.

_Sakura’s mind had to take a minute to process what Ino was asking. Pursued? Was dating a one-sided thing these days? Oh god, do I say him or do I say me?_

_“It was a mutual connection,” Sasuke said while she was still figuring out how to answer the question. He nudged her back where the camera couldn't see, wordlessly telling her not to fall behind._

"We started talking and found we had a good connection," Sakura said, echoing the rest of what Sasuke had said during the introductory interview.

"Oh? What do you do for a living?" Kimimaro raised one elegant eyebrow at her.

"I'm on my third year of undergraduate studies, writing my MCAT this summer,” Sakura smiled, on more comfortable ground now.

“Oh, a wannabe doctor eh?” Suigetsu rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Not bad, not bad, Sasuke, she’s hot and smart. But what about the physical-” He didn’t even get to finish his sentence when Karin knocked him over.

“So Sakura, what do you do for fun?” Karin ignored the moaning Suigetsu and continued with the questions. _I feel like I’m facing the Inquisition._

“I mean, I like spending time with my friends, shopping, eating out, checking out new restaurants,” Sakura tried her best to sound like a normal, well-adjusted human being.

“Hmmm,” Karin eyed the two of them consideringly, “You and Sasuke don’t share many common hobbies, do you?”

 _He doesn’t have any hobbies!_ Sakura wanted to shout.

_“What about you, Sasuke? What do you do for fun?” Ino asked, turning to him._

_“Work,” Sasuke said baldly. “I don’t have much time for anything else,”_

_“Haah,” Ino gave him a bit of an exasperated look, “So what do you guys do together then?”_

_“It’s just nice to hang out together,” Sakura tried to save_

_Ino snickered, “Hanging out? Do you mean Webflix and chill?”_

This time, Sasuke gave a different response. “We both like reading,” Sasuke said coolly. All his colleagues looked at him, startled. Even Sakura had to repress the urge to look at him.

“Oh, Sakura-chan, before I forget, what do you want to eat?” Jugo seemed to remember something. “We always have a regular order, so ours should already be going. We don’t want you to starve, though.”

“It’s late!” Suigetsu whined. He didn’t seem too badly off from Karin’s blow earlier - he shrugged it off like it was nothing.

“Well go check on it yourself, then,” Kimimaro said snidely, “You have two feet, and you’re not much use in here. You can take Sakura-san’s order while you’re at it.”

 _Use in what?!_ Sakura wondered, but didn’t have time to think too deeply as Suigetsu turned to her and said, “Well? What do you want? They do most standard pub food.”

“Oh uh, I’ll have some sweet potato fries then,” Sakura said, a bit muddled. _I’ll stick to something small since I’m paying for it_.

“Add some honey garlic chicken wings to that, Suigetsu,” Sasuke ordered, giving her a look. As Suigetsu left the room, Sasuke added, “You probably didn’t eat anything at home, did you?”

“Home?!” Karin’s voice was squeaky and shrill. “You guys are living together?!”

“I moved in a week after we started dating,” Sakura blushed as she remembered what she’d said during the initial interview. _God, past me was so stupid._

“Someone had to take care of me,” Sasuke said dryly, reaching over to pinch her cheek.

Sakura turned bright red at the idiotically doting gesture. _Shannaro! Delayed revenge much?_

_Sakura was still annoyed at Sasuke for the nudge, so she reached up to pinch his cheek in a doting manner for the camera, “Sasuke’s just so helpless. Someone needs to take care of him. When I moved in, there were piles of laundry lying around, and he can't cook to save his life, my poor baby.”_

_Ino laughed at that, “Oh no, our handsome Uchiha-san just isn’t domestic, is he? Good thing he has you!”_

Karin looked like she was about to explode, “Sasuke-kun can’t take care of himself?! As if!”

Jugo tried to play the peacemaker again, “It’s always nice to have someone else who cares, right Kimimaro?”

“Of course,” Kimimaro laid his head briefly on Jugo’s shoulder, then refocused his sharp gaze onto Sasuke, “But Sasuke-kun, if you were dating _and_ living with someone for the past couple of months, you should’ve said something. I’m afraid quite a few hearts are going to be broken when this gets out.” 

He didn’t even glance at Karin as he said this, though. _Very subtle,_ Sakura approved. _I feel bad for her, but I can’t exactly tell her I’m just borrowing him now, can I? Besides, she had her chance with him. They’re colleagues!_

Sakura watched Sasuke a bit nervously. This one, she couldn’t answer for him, and she didn’t know how he was going to respond to this, either. It’d been her impulsive, hair-brained response in the interview - hopefully, there wasn’t anyone who could prove that she was lying.

Sasuke, though, barely even paused in his response, “When you find something precious, you don’t want to share it.”

At his words, Karin looked like she was just about to faint. Both of Kimimaro’s eyebrows went up, and Jugo started laughing and slow-clapping. “That’s our boy,” Jugo grinned, sending Sasuke a thumbs up.

Even Sakura inwardly applauded, as she blushed and relaxed back into the seat a bit. She didn’t realize just how tense she’d been. She just noticed that he’d put his arm on the sofa behind her at one point, so her accidentally leaning back into his embrace looked a lot more intimate than it was meant to be.

“I got food!” Suigetsu announced as he came back in, wheeling a cart. He looked over at Karin, “What’s wrong with you? You’re looking a bit funny.”

“Nothing!” Karin nearly shrieked as she got up to help Suigetsu get the food into the room, “Here, let me help!”

“Okay?” Suigetsu said as he backed off, a bit puzzled.

Karin started efficiently handing out the plates, like she’d done this a hundred times, “The sashimi for Kimimaro, Steak and fries for you, Jugo, the Okonomiyaki is mine, Suigetsu’s pudding, and…,” She stopped at two baskets of wings and a basket of fries, and her lip curled before she picked them up and handed Sasuke and Sakura, “The spicy chilli wings and sweet potato fries for Sakura, and the honey garlic wings for Sasuke.”

“Oh um, the honey garlic wings are for me,” Sakura said hesitantly, trying to maneuver the two baskets in her hand while also swapping food with Sasuke.

“Oh sorry! You can’t eat spicy stuff?” Karin said with an apologetic look. “Wow, you and Sasuke have really different tastes. Are you sure you’re compatible?”

“Well, between the two of us, we can eat almost anything,” Sakura tried to laugh off the barbed question. _Help me out here!_ She gave him a look since he only had one occupied hand, and she was still trying to juggle her food. The table was too far away to put things down on. _Shannaro! why am I so short?_ “It’s great for trying out new restaurants.”

“How are you supposed to taste things if Sasuke’s eating it?” Suigetsu asked.

Sakura was too preoccupied with trying to find a place to put the food so it wouldn’t tip over and stain her dress that she didn’t see the bone-chilling look Sasuke gave Suigetsu as he put her basket of honey garlic wings on the table. She did barely register the next words he said, though. 

“Like this.”

Sakura squeaked when Sasuke reached over, cupped her chin in one hand, and turned her face towards him. The next couple of milliseconds played out in slow motion, as his thick eyelashes swept down over his obsidian eyes, he tilted his face just a smidge, and he came closer, and closer… and-

_Too close! Too close!_

She didn’t understand exactly what he was doing it until his mouth was already covering hers, and he caressed her lips coaxingly. Her brain was trying to process all these new sensations, but Sakura felt like some of her wires got disconnected, because all she could focus on at that moment was how _soft_ his lips were. _He uses good lip balm. Tastes like mint._ Sasuke was surprisingly gentle in demanding she open up to him, and for the life of her, she didn’t know why she obeyed.

That first, hesitant touch of his tongue exploring her mouth made all of her neurons short-circuit at the same time. Sakura froze.

And promptly dropped the basket of spicy red chilli wings that she forgot she was holding... into their laps.

_Oops._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A moment of silence for the chicken wings... They were sacrificed for a good cause.
> 
> FINALLY. Gooooood lord that took a while. I got stuck writing TAKA + Kimimaro (so please no snide comments about the characterizations, lmao. I tried). But! THEY KISSED! Muahahah. ATSiD is a slow burn (I had one commentor on that fic ask me if it was going to go backwards, lmao! - to that I say... stay posted), so NGL I enjoyed writing this moment immensely, _especially_ the ending. There are so many moments I wish I could draw in this fic, and Sakura being kissed by Sasuke while holding a basket of food in each hand is high on that list, lol. Anyways, thank y'all for your patience in getting this chapter out - I really hope the next one isn't going to take as long. As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subs, and banners flying from helicopters always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and see you soon!


	5. "Take Better Pictures"

_I’m supposed to be cleaning my skirt, not washing my face,_ Sakura thought dryly as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Still, the cool water felt good on her burning cheeks. They turned even hotter when she saw how swollen her lips were though. _What was Sasuke-kun thinking?!_

“Sakura-san?” A tentative voice called from the door of the girl’s bathroom. Sakura turned to look at Karin, who just came in holding a roll of paper towels.

“What is it?” Sakura managed an awkward smile at her.

“Here. I thought you could use these,” Karin handed her the roll, “Toilet paper might not be sturdy enough and leave residue.”

“Thanks,” Sakura was more than a bit surprised by the other girl’s olive branch. That didn’t stop her from taking the paper towel and starting to wiping off the sauce, though

“If you do that, you’ll work the sauce into the dress. Here,” Karin said, coming forward to help her. She took another piece of damp paper towel and laid it against Sakura’s dress, “Just blot. The rest should come out in the laundry. It’s a nice dress.”

“Thanks,” Sakura said again, more and more puzzled by her unexpectedly friendly attitude, “I can do it.”

Karin stepped back, handing the paper towel back to her. “Sasuke-kun went to grab the car to take you home,” Karin told her, “He said to come out to the front when you were done in here. I have your purse. He’s already dealt with the bill.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks,” Sakura said for the third time, feeling remarkably stupid. She didn’t know what else to say to this girl. _Sorry I borrowed the guy you like, I promise I’ll give him back?_

Karin stood there awkwardly, watching Sakura deal with the stains, until Sakura started feeling goosebumps on the back of her neck. She had to fight the urge to shiver. Just before Sakura opened her mouth to ask her if she needed something else, Karin beat her to it.

“I’m sorry,” She muttered.

Sakura blinked. _That was the last thing I expected._ “It’s okay. I understand.” Their eyes met for a second, then Karin turned away, blushing hard. Both of them knew she was apologizing for more than the mixup with the wings. 

Just as she was about to leave, Karin muttered something else so low that Sakura almost missed it. “He really likes you. You guys seem… good together.”

 _What?!_ Before Sakura could think of a response that wasn’t “Thanks?”, Karin had already closed the door behind her. Sakura could only stare blankly at it, stupefied by what she’d said. _Sasuke-kun must be a better actor than I gave him credit for._

Shaking herself, she hurried and finished cleaning up, then made her way back to the entrance of the karaoke bar. A silver sports car was parked outside the entrance under the street lamps, quietly purring like a large, predatory cat. When she tried to peer through the shadows to see who was sitting in it, all she could make out was Sasuke’s glowing eyes.

“Get in,” He ordered. The car door unlock sound beeped.

Purse in hand, she awkwardly clambered into the passenger seat, trying not to let her stained dress touch any of the buttery leather interior. Sasuke waited until she’d put on her seatbelt before he put the car in reverse and smoothly pulled away from the curb.

They drove through the dark streets, splashing through puddles of light from the street lamps that only provided uncertain illumination. The inside of the car was oppressively silent, since Sasuke had never been the chatty kind, and Sakura didn’t want to open her mouth since she couldn’t see the look on Sasuke’s face and gauge how he was feeling. She felt so _stifled_ though.

 _He kissed me first!_ Sakura complained to herself, propping her chin on her hand. _Why is he making it so awkward now?_ Her elbow settled on the armrest, and she turned her head to look out the window and watched the nighttime crowds start to emerge from their hibernation. 

Office workers emerging from bars supporting each other, well-dressed couples meeting for drinks, students chatting in vibrant groups as they hurried to catch the last train home, shadows slinking into the space between buildings - all the various fauna of the urban jungle slid past her window. As a girl born and bred in suburbia, Sakura distracted herself by coming up with elaborate backstories for all these people whose lives were just brushing by hers. She didn’t even notice that she’d started tapping her fingers on her knee. She’d certainly forgotten her shadowy sentinel of a driver.

“Is your dress okay?”

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when he broke the silence between them. Forcing herself to calm down, she replied, “Y-Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Hn.”

The unease and awkwardness she’d just managed to forget came flooding back in, stifling her again. Gathering all her courage, she finally asked him the question that’d been bothering her for so long in an attempt to clear the air.

“Sasuke-kun?”

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.”

Sakura scowled at him, “You know what I mean.”

“Fine.”

“Why did you… k-kiss me?” She said it so fast her tongue tripped on their way out, making her stumble. Her face turned bright red at what she’d asked, but words that were said were like spilled water. Tense, she looked down at her clenched fists, waiting for a response.

And waited.

 _Shannaro! What the heck?_ Sakura slowly tried to take a peek at Sasuke, but all she could see was his chin and his hands on the wheel as he drove through the city streets. The rest of his face was still in shadow.

Just when she’d decided to find a hole to bury herself in, he finally opened his mouth. “I wanted to shut everyone up and change the subject.”

Sakura blinked.

 _That was not the response I expected._ She didn’t understand. “How did kissing me shut everyone up?”

“...”

“Sasuke-kun!”

“It worked last time.”

Speechless, Sakura fell back against the seat of the car. Out of all the reasons she was expecting, this had not been one of them. But it was perfectly logical… from a totally nonsensical point of view. Sakura didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. _C’mon Sakura, buck up. He only started this whole thing after you promised not to fall for him_. Plus, his ploy had changed the topic. _Still, I can’t believe my first kiss was used as a conversation changer._

Feeling oddly deflated, she picked up her phone to give herself a reason not to pay attention to him anymore. Just as she was about to open up a time-waster or something so she could turn her brain off and ignore the lump driving the car, though, a text message buzzed on her phone. Seeing it was from Naruto, she opened it up.

_Sakura-chan!!! Why haven’t you guys been posting more couple pics!? My producer is yelling at me to get you guys to do more hype!_

Guiltily, she opened up her Instaglam app and checked her notifications.. It had been nearly a week since she posted that wonton pic, and it hadn’t been couply at all. She really should be more on her game for this whole pretending to be dating thing, especially since she was going to be paid for it. 

“Naruto’s reminding me about taking more pictures for social media,” Sakura complained, “Why do people want to see pictures of other people dating anyways?”

“Smelling something when you’re hungry is almost as good as having something to eat,” Sasuke replied obliquely.

Sakura paused, digesting what he said.“It makes sense, but… it’s still a pain in the butt.”

“Do you want to just get it over tonight? There’s a park nearby,” Sasuke offered.

Sakura was a bit surprised at his thoughtfulness but quickly recovered. _I bet he’s only thinking it’ll be a pain to go out later this weekend._ She was about to reply in the negative, when something caught her eye.

“Oh I see it!” Sakura gasped suddenly, “Let’s go, let’s go!” She’d spotted the small urban park lit up with twinkling fairy lights amongst the blooming trees. A few other couples sat on wrought iron benches or took pictures by the central fountain, but it wasn’t unbearably crowded. It was a great place to snap a couple of pictures. 

Sasuke only glanced at her, but he didn’t say anything else. He miraculously found street parking right in front of the park’s entrance, stopped the car, and turned to look at her. Since they were under some street lighting, Sakura could see the questioning eyebrow he raised at her.

“I want to get some pictures for Instaglam in the park. Plus it’s so pretty!” Sakura explained as she unfastened her seatbelt. She didn’t look at him, though, because her eyes were already fixed on the nocturnal fairyland. Bouncing out of the car excitedly, she heartlessly left him behind in the car.

She didn’t see the slow, charmed smile that crept over Sasuke’s face as he watched her through the window, oohing and ahhing over the flowers and tiny lights. He watched her twirl with her arms wide open, reaching out to capture a bit of magic as petals fell down around her.

 _I knew she’d like it._ In his mind’s eye, Sasuke took a snapshot for his heart.

By the time a dizzy and flushed Sakura turned back to him, her pink hair covered in petals, she saw Sasuke standing by his car, draped in shadows like a masterpiece hidden under dark velvet. The street lamps threw a dark shadow over his finely sculpted features that hid his expression, but Sakura had the oddest feeling that he was the king of the underworld coming for his errant flower bride. Oddly embarrassed by her childishness, she smiled sheepishly at him and beckoned him over.

“Sasuke-kun, come here! There’s a good spot by the fountain to take a picture,” She called, pointing

“Mm,” Sasuke met her eyes and prowled forward.

Having spent a week with him in close quarters and having been roommates with him for another week, Sakura thought she was used to his good looks. In this moment, though, something about the look in his eyes as he walked towards her gave her the shivers and made her remember just how _gorgeous_ he was.

“Where?” He reached her side and looked down at her.

“Huh?” She said, startled from her daze.

“The good spot to take a picture,” The corners of his lips curled up.

Sakura flushed again. _He was making fun of her!_ “Over here,” She said, pointing to the lip of a fountain where a kitten statue was curled up, asleep.

“Aah,” He wordlessly took her phone out of her hands and tilted his chin, indicating that she should go and find a pose. Obediently, Sakura went forward and sat down on the lip of the fountain then goofed around with the kitten statue as Sasuke expressionlessly pointed the camera towards her.

After ten minutes of posing, Sakura bounced back towards him and took her phone out of his hands, flipping through the shots he’d taken. Her eyebrows went up. _He’s actually not bad at this_. There she was, smiling with the lights of the fountain behind her and the falling blossoms, pretending to pet the little kitten statue, falling asleep on top of it. She couldn’t even see her stained skirt in most of the pictures.

“These are cute!” She complimented him, only to realize that he was already halfway to the exit of the park when she looked up. She frowned, “Wait a minute, you need to be in these pictures too! We need couple pictures.”

Turning back around, Sasuke gave her an unimpressed look. Amused instead of annoyed at his attitude, she grinned broadly and beckoned him back again. He reluctantly walked back towards her. When he reached her, Sakura grabbed his hand and tugged him forward back to the fountain.

Sasuke looked down at where she was holding his hand. Unbeknown to the both of them, the tips of his ears turned red.

“Here, your arms are longer,” She handed him the phone again, “Try to get the kitty cat in the picture.” As Sasuke lifted his left hand with the camera to take the picture, Sakura grabbed the front of his jacket and leaned into him, getting up on her tippy toes so their faces were close for the selfie. His arm naturally fell behind her, as if he was holding her.

Sasuke froze mid-adjustment. _She’s so close_. He could smell her sweet perfume and feel the soft strands of her hair tickle his cheek.

“Sasuke-kun?” Sakura turned to him when he still didn’t take the picture, “Is something wrong?”

He could feel her eyelashes on his chin. “No,” He rapidly took a couple of shots, not caring about how they were posed or if she was ready. Sakura was caught off-guard as he abruptly moved away and handed her phone back to her. “We need to go, I have things to do tonight.” Without looking at her again, he started walking towards the exit.

Baffled by his abrupt change in attitude, Sakura could only rush to catch up with him before he left her behind in the magical glade.

***

They got back to his apartment in silence, and Sasuke went straight to his room before Sakura could say anything to him. She blinked, startled by his abruptness, but didn’t think too much of it. Instead, she went to her room to change out of her stained dress.

As she went, she absently opened the selfies that Sasuke took at the park to pick one to post, only to do a double take as she flipped through her camera roll.

“Shannaro!” Sakura yelled, “Dammit Sasuke-kun!” _These all suck!_ To be more precise, these were all _terrible_ pictures of her. Sasuke looked fine, and the adorable little kitty statue looked fine, but she - “Sasuke-kun, I can’t use any of these!” She complained loudly at his door.

Silence.

“Sasuke-kun!” She knocked on his door.

Still nothing.

Pouting, she gave up. Sakura started flipping through the pictures again, grasping at the last straws of hope, but each one was worse than the other. One, he caught her mid-blink, the next she had this awkward double chin, and in the last one where she was smiling nicely, the bright red chili sauce on her dress was like a blinking stop sign! She scowled. _Dammit, dammit, dammit!_ _We’re going to have to take these again. Urgh, I don’t have time for this nonsense!_

Annoyed, she texted Hinata to complain.

_Hinata-chan, everyone sucks. Sasuke-kun sucks, your boss sucks, the MCATs suck._

_Oh I’m sorry, Sakura-chan. What happened? Studying not going well? What did Jiraiya-san do?_

_Studying is just studying, and it’s your direct boss, not your big boss. Naruto’s nagging me to take pictures, and Sasuke’s NOT cooperating._

_Oh sorry… I won’t be much help with Uchiha-san. But please be nicer to Naruto-kun - the broadcast schedule is set, so we really need to ramp up promotions._

_Really? he still sucks though._

_Naruto-kun is very kind and considerate! He's just doing his job! Don't think badly of him, Sakura-chan._

_Hmmmmmmmm… You're very defensive_

_I admire him! He's a good boss._

_Hmmmmmmmm… I smell a workplace romance_

_… I don't want to ruin our working relationship._

_Aww Hina-chan! You'd be good together_

_Well, we certain work well together_

_That’s not what I mean, Hina-chan_

_Don’t make fun of me, please? Do you want to hear about the broadcast schedule?_

_Sure, sure, change the subject. When does it start?_

_Broadcasts start late July, and we’ll have the 7 episodes with a reunion episode afterwards to announce the winner._

Sakura thought back to the footage they’d filmed. They’d done about a week’s worth of challenges and tricks, so nothing about the broadcast schedule was a huge surprise. They had competed with three other couples to complete challenges that showed off their individual strengths and abilities, how well they knew each other, and the depth and strength of their relationship. The show was designed to be interactive with the audience at home, so while Sakura already knew how she and Sasuke had scored and how they’d placed in each of the challenges, half the score was still decided by voting. 

_Not that it really matters, since we were effectively cannon fodder. Should be interesting to find out who the actual winners are. I wonder if Neji-san and Tenten-chan have a fighting chance?_ Sakura mused, smiling at the thought

It was the beginning of May now. Sakura’s MCAT was scheduled for early June, so she had a few weeks to cram as many practice exams as she could. A couple of pictures between now and then wouldn’t be too bad, especially if she could make them all lunch dates or something. They had to eat, right? She made a one-sided promise to Naruto in her head that she’d ramp up pictures and promotions after her MCAT was over.

But first, she had to deal with the immediate lack of material for social media.

Annoyed, Sakura sent the recalcitrant culprit a text. _Sasuke-kun, I accidentally deleted the couple pictures we took tonight. Let’s go get lunch and take new ones tomorrow._

 _Accidentally on purpose,_ Sakura thought to herself, irritated. 

Her phone buzzed again from a text message from Hinata. _Do you want to give me a call and catch up? I'm sorry I haven't had a chance since the filming, work has just been crazy. I have some time now though!_

Sakura cheered up and immediately dialed her number. “Hina-chan! Did you just get off work?”

“Y-Yeah, Naruto-kun and I were working late to get the promotion schedule nailed down,” Hinata’s voice was soft, with the slight stutter that had improved a lot since high school.

“So… Naruto-kun, eh?” Sakura teased her.

“W-well, we’ve been working a lot together and he’s been so kind and thoughtful and…,” Hinata mumbled into the phone.

“You really like him, eh?”

“… This opportunity is really important to me, Sakura-chan. I-I don’t want to mess it up when he rejects me. After all, he’s a hotshot producer and I-I’m just the ugly, awkward college intern.”

“Hey Hina-chan! No one disses my bff like that, But I understand wanting to wait until your internship is over. Does that mean you’re going to extend your contract now that the show is greenlit?”

“W-Well, it’ll probably have to depend on how well we do once it starts airing. J-Jiraiya-san has said that they’ll consider it after the reunion episode.”

“Wow, good luck, Hina-chan!” Sakura sighed, a bit despondently as she flopped back onto the sofa bed, “I’m happy for you and all, but why did you have to complete your degree in three years? Now what am I going to do for a roommate for fourth year?”

“Y-You’ll survive. M-Maybe you can just go on living with Uchiha-san,” Sakura could hear the slight teasing in Hinata’s voice.

“I’m pretty sure one of his fangirls is going to kill me first. You’ll never guess what happened this week. Do you remember Kin, from high school?”

“Th-the one who spread that rumour about you?”

“Yeah, her! We ran into her last week, and it turns out she knows one of Sasuke-kun’s coworkers, so that lead to me inviting myself along to one of his company parties,” Sakura went on to tell Hinata the story of her disastrous evening. She told her about Kin’s machinations, the weird girl at the front desk, meeting Sasuke’s colleagues, and on and on in great detail. It felt good to have a sympathetic audience, even if all Hinata did was listen. When Sakura told her about the kiss, however, her voice rose shrilly in her agitation.

"Can you believe him, Hinata-chan? I asked him why on the way back, and he said it was to shut everyone up!" Sakura ranted loudly, "My first kiss was a conversation ender!"

"F-First kiss?" Hinata asked her hesitantly, "B-But … didn't-"

Before Hinata could finish her question, though, Sakura heard a loud sound from the other side of her door _. That sounded painful. I hope Sasuke-kun's okay._ Thinking about him reminded Sakura of something important, though.

"One sec, Hinata-chan, I think I hear Sasuke-kun in the other room. He's been ignoring my texts so I'm just going to ask him something quick," Sakura told her friend before she got up and opened her door.

Without even looking around first, Sakura called out, “Sasuke-kun, are you okay? I heard a sound. By the way, have you been checking your…” Sakura trailed off as her eyes fell upon the scene in the living room and stopped dead.

And stared.

And stared some more.

She just couldn’t look away.

_Oh, wow, for a guy who works in a lab, Sasuke-kun has a really nice…_

"Checking my what?” Sasuke straightened up from his crouch and looked back at her. He must have just come out from the shower, because all he was wearing was a large towel riding low on his trim hips, exposing the beginning of a very well-defined mermaid line. Water still dripped from the tips of his black hair, and a single drop lazily trailed down his muscular chest, like a lover’s finger.

“Huh? I’m not checking you out!’” Sakura denied vigorously. She could feel her face burning.

“...,” Sasuke continued to stare at her, the tips of his ears slowly turning red. The tension in the room began to play an anxious tune on both their nerves, but neither of them could stop looking at each other.

And then Sakura realized that because of her guilty conscience, she’d misheard Sasuke.

_Shannaro! Just kill me now!_

“Checking your texts,” Sakura coughed awkwardly, finally being the first to look away.

“Oh. No,” Sasuke showed her the small device in his hand. Even from here, she could see the huge spiderweb cracks across his screen. _So that loud sound a minute ago must have been him dropping his phone,_ Sakura realized

.”Oh no! How’d that happen?” Sakura asked.

“Dropped it a minute ago,” Sasuke explained laconically.

“Well that sucks. Do you think it can be repaired?” She asked. Sasuke only nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Sakura could tell from his expression that he wanted her to get lost - she’d gotten quite familiar with that look over the first few days of filming, so she got to her point, “look, I accidentally deleted the pictures we took at the park, so I need new ones to post. Tomorrow’s Sunday - can we go out for lunch and pretend it’s a date? We’ve got to eat, anyways.”

Sasuke seemed to think about it for a minute, then nodded. “Is that all?” He asked, a bit impatiently.

Sakura stared at him. _So rude!_ “Yes, that’s everything.” She rolled her eyes at him and went back to her room.

Sasuke watched her go with a stony face, watching closely until she closed her door firmly behind her with a bad-tempered slam. He then rubbed his forehead with a sigh, trying to remove any remaining signs of embarrassment. _That’s what I get for leaving my phone outside._ He’d expected her to be wrapped up in her call, but he’d never truly appreciated the benefits of better soundproofing until today.

***

_A handsome face. An oddly familiar face? But his eyes were so cold._

_“Umm… can you help me get back to the base?”_

_“You have legs, don’t you?”_

_“I-I think I twisted my ankle…”_

_“... fine…”_

A series of firm raps on the door forcibly dragged Sakura out of her dream, making the fragments slip through her fingers like wisps of smoke. She felt so disoriented, and an echo of loss made her heart ache.

“Sakura?” the low voice behind the door snapped her out of her reverie. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sakura tried to call out, but her voice was croaky. She coughed.

“You’re not sick, are you?” _Is that a trace of concern I hear, oh giant iceblock?_

“No, I just woke up,” Sakura cleared her throat, “What time is it?”

“It’s nearly noon,” Sasuke responded, “I thought we were going for lunch. But if you’re not feeling well...”

 _SHANNARO! My pictures!_ Sakura nearly jumped out of bed, “No! Let’s go for lunch! Wait, I need to change… ahhh I can’t believe I overslept!”

“Take your time,” Sasuke told her through the door, and then Sakura heard footsteps fading away from her door.

From prior experience, though, Sakura knew Sasuke didn’t have that much patience. She still remembered how he’d left her behind that one day during filming. Normally, she wouldn’t care, but today was probably her last chance for at least a week, and she needed to post something soon to get Naruto off her case. So she ran between her room and the bathroom like a mad woman, and managed to get washed up, dressed up, and made up in record time. When she finally tumbled into the living room, all ready to go, she was relieved to see that Sasuke was waiting on the couch. _If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’s doing a good job at playing the doting boyfriend._

He looked up at her, scrutinizing her face closely. The look in his eyes made her nervous.

“What is it? Do I have lipstick on my teeth?” Sakura asked, a tad anxiously. She’d done her makeup in a hurry, so she’d used a light hand, but it still looked okay, right?

“No. You’re not wearing any,” Sasuke replied shortly.

“Ah?” Sakura pulled a compact out of her bag and checked her face, “Oh no! Dammit, give me a second to just-”

“Don’t,” Sasuke stopped her, “It’s past noon, we should get going. I have other things to do this afternoon.” With that, he picked up his keys and went to the entryway to put on his shoes.

Sakura scowled at his back. _How long would it take for me to grab lipstick? He’s already waited for this long. And we’re taking pictures today, okay?_ But sinceSasuke was already halfway out the door, she really didn’t have time, so she could only grab her purse and follow him out.

Sakura actually hadn’t planned where to go for lunch - she figured they’d just walk around and pick somewhere nearby. But once they went out the doors of the apartment building, Sasuke started walking in a certain direction with a sense of purpose, so Sakura followed obediently.

They walked over long sidewalks of sunny street, past signboards advertising summer brunch deals, past people sitting on patios under brightly coloured umbrellas sipping mimosas, past shoppers swinging bags from a hard day’s shopping. Pedestrians walked around cars without any of the fear of death, and cars meandered down busy roads more slowly than they did on weekdays. A busker’s microphone squeaked before they started to sing a slightly off tune rendition of a popular song Sakura had heard on the radio last week.

Sasuke lead her to a side street with several small, brightly coloured cafes, and stopped at one with a particularly large and shady patio. Sakura looked up at the sign.

“Meow Pancakes and Waffles?” Sakura raised an eyebrow and looked at him, “This doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”

“Online reviews said it was good for pictures,” Sasuke shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed, “That’s what we’re here for, right?”

 _That’s actually really thoughtful of him_ , Sakura was a bit touched, despite his attitude.

Then she looked at the signboard with the prices. And winced.

“This place is a bit pricy…” Sakura said hesitantly. Since she was shamelessly freeloading at his place and dragging him into her awkward job pretending to be a couple, she couldn’t ask him to pay for these pretend dates.

“We can take turns paying,” Sasuke shrugged, “Besides, I can’t be bothered to find anywhere else right now. My phone’s broken, remember?”

“Are you sure?” Sakura nibbled her lip. She caught Sasuke staring at her and quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. 

Sasuke looked away. Instead of answering, he just walked into the cafe.

_Geez, fine, Mr. Moody._

The hostess settled them at one of the patio booths tucked into the corner nearest to the restaurant and brought them menus. Sakura ogled the pictures delightedly. _Shannaro! Everything’s so cute!!!_ They had piles of fluffy souffle pancakes dotted with all kinds of toppings, from fresh fruit and whipped cream to mochi pieces and anmitsu, topped with powdered sugar kitty paw prints, elaborate parfaits with kitty faces drawn out with sprinkles on tiny scoops of ice creams, and towering piles of paw print waffles with both sweet and savory options. They even had the kitty latte art Sakura had tried a couple weeks back at a different cafe, and there were multiple configurations to boot.

“Have you decided, miss?” The waitress asked her.

“Mmm I’m still deciding between the green tea anmitsu parfait and the souffle pancakes with the mochi and maple syrup,” Sakura mused, her eyes glued to the pictures.

“She’ll have both,” Sasuke told the waitress, “I’ll have the eggs and bacon waffles with the maple syrup on the side, and a latte. Could you hurry? She hasn’t eaten breakfast yet.”

“Sure thing, it’ll be quick. Your boyfriend is so good to you,” The waitress smiled and flattered the couple. Sakura felt her face burn, but she could only smile awkwardly in return and avoid looking at Sasuke. 

When the waitress left, and they were left alone, Sakura hissed at him, “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Why? I’m hungry, and you would have spent forever making up your mind. We both know you can finish two breakfasts,” Sasuke raised an eyebrow back at her. Sakura scowled at him. _I can’t believe I thought he was being sweet._

“Here I was thinking you were trying to make me actually fall for you so you could kick me out thanks to our agreement at the beginning,” Sakura muttered. 

She was looking down at her phone at that minute, so she didn’t see the flabbergasted and discombobulated look on Sasuke’s face, but she did hear the slight hitch in his voice as he casually asked her, “what agreement?”

Sakura looked at him weirdly, “The one where you agreed to pretend to be a fake couple for the show if I would never fall for you? Remember? When you walked out on me without even talking to me because I showed signs of physical arousal?”

“Oh,” Sasuke’s face was as stony as ever. Nothing on his face betrayed the deep desire he suddenly felt to go back in time and strangle his past self. _Still, what’s done is done._ He had to deal with the problem in front of him first. “I’m just trying to play the part properly. Don’t overthink it. I won’t kick you out.”

“Sure…,” Sakura gave him a look, only half-believing him. Still, it made her feel a little better to hear him say he wasn’t planning on kicking her out. _He’s been acting weird. Then again, we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, most of which we’ve spent living together. Maybe he’s just like this to his friends._

“Why were you up late last night?” Sasuke asked, mostly to change the topic.

“ I got caught up studying for my MCATs,” Sakura explained.

“You’re writing them in early June, right?”

“Yep! So it’s crunch time now.” 

“Are you ready?”

“I think so,” Encouraged, Sakura rambled on about her studying and study schedule, mostly to fill the silence. When their adorable brunches arrived, Sakura gave him a short intermission while she snapped many pictures of their food, but for the most part, she kept the conversation flowing.

Sasuke listened attentively, even if he didn’t say much, and Sakura relaxed as the topic wandered into her plans for the rest of the summer, her hopes for her last year of university, and eventually to her friendship with Hinata. She was just telling him about the one time that Hinata really, really lost her temper in high school, when Kin and her friends kept accusing her of being the third party in someone else’s break up, when Sasuke-kun stood up all of a sudden.

“Where are you going?” Sakura asked, a bit stupefied.

“Home.”

“Don’t you have to pay the bill?”

Sasuke gave her a _look_ , “I already did.”

“Oh,” The gears in Sakura’s head spun rapidly, when she realized something, “Shannaro! We haven’t taken any couple’s pictures though! What am I going to post on Instaglam?”

“That’s your problem,” Sasuke wasn’t the least bit sympathetic.

“Oh come on, Sasuke-kun!” Sakura pleaded with him, “Do you have any errands to run? We can just snap something at the first photogenic place on the way. Please?”

Sasuke first glanced at her puppy dog eyes, and then glanced away. “Fine. There is one place on the way that I know is considered photogenic.”

“Thank you Sasuke-kun!” Sakura cheered. They left the restaurant and started walking in the direction of the city center, and Sakura kept telling stories about her high school and childhood. Speaking of Hinata, though, she remembered their conversation from the night before, and also remembered that Naruto and Sasuke were friends, since that’s how Sasuke ended up in this position with her in the first place.

“Speaking of which, how long have you and Naruto known each other?” Sakura asked.

“Too long,” Sasuke replied shortly.

“So you must know what his type is, right?” Sakura probed.

“His type?”

“You know, the kind of girl he wants to go on a date with. What are his ex-girlfriends like? Stuff like that. C’mon, spill.”

“Why?”

“Just… just because,” Sakura was caught off guard by the question, so her excuse was extremely lame. Still, since Sasuke and Hinata would probably cross paths in the future because of the TV show, she couldn’t exactly just tell him it was for a friend. _I can’t embarrass Hinata like that!_

“Hn,” Sasuke didn’t seem like he was going to respond, which just irritated Sakura.

“Please, Sasuke-kun? It’s not a huge secret, is it?” She made the puppy dog eyes at him again. _It worked last time._

“Not you.”

“Huh?”

“His type isn’t you.”

“...” Sakura thought there might’ve been a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. “Then…. What do you think of me?”

“You talk too much.”

“...” _Shannaro! Well thanks, asshole._ Sakura shut up..

With the awkward silence looming between them, Sakura followed Sasuke from cracked sidewalks winding through the cheerfully dilapidated nooks of the city to straight lines of white concrete surrounded by gleaming glass goliaths. The creases on Sakura’s forehead grew deeper and deeper as she looked around them in confusion when they turned onto a side street, away from the often photographed heart of the business district. They were standing in front of a nondescript glass monolith, with “TAKA Labs” emblazoned on the front.

“Where is this?” Sakura asked suspiciously.

“My workplace.” Sasuke responded, “Come in.”

“Is that okay? It’s Sunday, isn’t it? Is your office even open?” Sakura continued to ask as she followed him through the unmanned security checkpoint.

“I’m just going to leave you in the common area. We won an award for best office space a few years ago, so it should be fine for pictures. Here.” Sasuke opened a glass door for her, to an open concept office with tables and comfy leather sofas arranged in conversational groups. It was interspersed with leafy palms, and the blinds were wide open, allowing the sunshine to pour in. Sakura walked in, a bit inexplicably nervous to be here.

 _This is what he meant by photogenic spot?_ Sakura couldn’t believe it. Sure it was nice, but it was an _office space_. Wasn’t it too awkward to use it to take couples pictures?

“Wait, Sasuke-kun, are you sure you want to take pictures at your work…” Sakura turned back around to ask Sasuke a question, but only saw his rapidly retreating back… on the other side of the security checkpoint.

“Did he… just leave me here? To take pictures?” Sakura wondered out loud in disbelief. She looked around the empty lounge in bewilderment then burst out in frustration, “SHANNARO! Sasuke-kun you idiot! Couples pictures require two people!”

***

His trip to drop off his cellphone for repairs took longer than he expected, since the proprietor had haggled over the price and delivery time with him. _If they weren’t so close to work, I wouldn’t’ve bothered. Probably shouldn’t next time._ Exasperated, he hurried back to his office, hoping Sakura wasn’t too angry at him since he’d just left her there. _Still, doesn’t she need time to figure out light and angles and whatever?_

He stepped back into the office common space a bit nervously, but didn’t see Sakura breathing fire at him. In fact, he didn’t see her at all. Sasuke ignored the tiny thread of panic that worked its way into his heart. _She can’t have been kidnapped, right? There’s no one else here._

His heart relaxed, though, when he saw one elegant bare foot sticking out from the side of a sofa, and Sakura’s sandal in the middle of the aisle. A delicate snuffling sound came from that direction. Quietly, Sasuke peered over the edge of the sofa to find Sakura sprawled across a plush loveseat, fast asleep. Her head was pillowed on one of the armrests, and she’d put her phone on the low table beside her, within arms reach.

Unbeknownst to himself, the corners of his lips curled into a small smile. He went to his office and grabbed his lap coat, then went back to the sofa and covered her up. Before he retreated back to his office to get some paperwork done and let her sleep, Sasuke paused and looked back at Sakura again.

The smile widened a little. He picked up her phone and opened her camera. Taking a second to admire her sweetly sleeping face, he snapped a picture. Flipping back to the photo preview before her phone autolock kicked in, that smile turned into a full-blown smirk.

He’d tucked the labcoat right up to her chin, like he would a young child. The light was perfect - it spilled through the window onto her face, bathing her features in a celestial light. Sleep smoothed the wrinkles of worry that often lined her face, and her hair spread out around her in a warm halo. 

The thing that made Sasuke smirk, though, was just one tiny detail.

_She drools when she sleeps._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things Sasuke should've said if he wasn't an awkward tomato:   
> \- I want to kiss you again, so don't wear lipstick.  
> \- Can I take it back?  
> \- I'm jealous  
> \- You're beautiful
> 
> Hehe, so it's been a while! Sorry bout that - COVID blues hit me hard, and ATSiD is still my main work. But this one does allow me to get all the shipper moments out, lol. How many times did I make myself squee while writing this chapter? Several. Although I did torment myself quite a bit over ModernAU!Sasuke - he's quite hard to write, especially.... well, especially in this fic. Also, you can probably tell I missed the city during summer while writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Some of you may have many questions after this chapter: to that I say.... wait for it, hehe. Thanks for stopping by, and always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subscriptions, and messages left under my feet in sidewalk chalk always make my day. See you soon (I hope)!

**Author's Note:**

> Oh Sakura, would we have a narrative if he didn't? Hehehe. 
> 
> Hah! I managed it! It's still the weekend where I am, lol. Yes, this is the first life in the "System, The Host..." series and it is heavily inspired by "The Most Pleasant Thing to Hear", a Chinese Webnovel by Shi Xiao Zha, that has been translated by fans for the interested. The Most Pleasant Thing to Hear also has a drama, called I Hear You, that I have not watched. This fic, unlike A Tiny Smirk is Devasting (my other SasuSaku longfic), diverges from the original ending, though, so you won't be spoiling the story if you read the webnovel (Yes, I have been reading way too many light novels, please put me out of my misery already, or rather wallow in my misery with me, lol). 
> 
> Mostly I'm writing this one because a) crazy plot buns, and b) ATSiD is a very slow burn, b) I want to write something without a Beta, and c) I want to write fluff, dammit! Fluff! I'm targeting a weekly release schedule on Wednesday if ATSiD is not getting updated, Saturday if it is, but don't hold me to it, lol. I hope you join me on this adventure! As always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, subs, and love letters sent in little paper airplanes always make my day. Stay safe and stay healthy, and see you soon!


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